South Korea's first lunar probe, Danuri, left Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday evening August 4 for a one-year mission, a key step for Seoul's space ambitions, which plans to land a spacecraft on the Moon by 2030.
The Danuri orbiter - a contraction of "
Dal
", which means Moon, and "
Nuri
" which means profit - took off at 00:08 GMT on Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, South Korea's science ministry said. .
The spacecraft is due to reach orbit of the Moon in December.
Study the surface of the ground
SpaceX, the group of billionaire Elon Musk, has confirmed the successful launch of Danuri, whose official name is KPLO (Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter).
“
Danuri is just the start.
If we are even more determined and committed to the development of technologies for space travel, we will be able to reach Mars, asteroids, etc.
in the near future
,” Lee Sang-ryool, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), said in a video released ahead of the launch.
He hailed "
a very important milestone in the history of Korean space exploration
."
Read alsoArianeGroup accelerates in reusable and sustainable rockets
During his mission, Danuri will use six different instruments, including an ultra-sensitive camera provided by the American Space Agency (Nasa) which will be used in particular to study the surface of the ground in order to identify landing sites for future missions.
Danuri must also test, in a world first according to the South Korean government, a new networked space communications system resistant to disturbances.
space k-pop
The probe will also attempt to set up a wireless Internet environment intended to connect satellites or exploration vehicles.
This wireless connection in space will be tested by streaming the song "
Dynamite
" by cult K-pop group BTS.
Another instrument, ShadowCam, will record images of regions of the Moon that are permanently in shadow.
Scientists hope to find hidden sources of water and ice in these dark, cold regions near the poles.
Read alsoSpace X: the flight of astronauts from “Crew-3” to the ISS still delayed
"
If this mission succeeds, South Korea will become the seventh country in the world to have launched an unmanned probe to the Moon
," a KARI official told AFP.
"
This is a pivotal moment for South Korea's space development program, and we hope to continue contributing to the global understanding of the Moon with what Danuri will discover
," he added.
seventh country in the world
According to South Korean scientists, Danuri - which took seven years to build - will pave the way for more ambitious goals.
South Korea plans to land a spacecraft on lunar soil by 2030. South Korea is the world's 12th largest economy and one of the most technologically advanced countries, but it has so far lagged behind in the space conquest.
While elsewhere in Asia, China, Japan and India have developed advanced space programs.
Read alsoSpace X's Crew Dragon capsule docked with the ISS
If Danuri was launched by SpaceX, a private company, South Korea had successfully lifted off in June its first nationally designed rocket, Nuri, which had put several satellites into orbit, after a failure in October.
It thus became the seventh country in the world to have successfully launched a one-tonne payload on its own rockets.
North Korea is claiming its place in this club of countries with their own satellite-launching capacity.
She claimed to have put a 300-kilogram satellite into orbit in 2012 using a rocket, in which Seoul and Washington instead saw a disguised ballistic missile.
