South Korea's first lunar orbiter is enroute to Moon

Seoul: South Korea's first lunar orbiter has entered its planned trajectory towards the moon, the country's Science Ministry said Friday, in a historic first step towards space exploration.

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter — also known as Danuri, a portmanteau of the Korean words for "moon" and "enjoy" — was travelling on a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory as of 2 p.m. on a trip to the moon that could take four and a half months, Yonhap reported. South Korea confirmed that the orbiter was generating power with its solar panels and all onboard devices were functioning properly after being launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in the US.

Danuri also made its first communication with a Deep Space Network antenna of NASA in Australia's Canberra, at 9.40 a.m. (Korean time), according to the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

"The Danuri will be recorded as the first step in the history of South Korea's space exploration. There is still a long road ahead for Danuri, including entering the lunar orbit and conducting its yearlong mission," Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho said in Cape Canaveral after observing the launch.

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