South Korea Launches Its First Moon Mission On SpaceX Rocket
New Delhi: South Korea on Friday launched its first domestically developed lunar orbiter by SpaceX from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and became the seventh country to send a spacecraft to the moon.
The satellite Launched by SpaceX is taking a long, roundabout path to conserve fuel and will arrive in December.
Earlier the launch of the satellite was scheduled on 27 July, however, it was delayed due to SpaceX rocket maintenance issues.
Notably, if the mission is successful, South Korea will become the seventh country in the world after America, Russia, China, Japan, Israel, and India to send a mission to the moon.
South Korea's space agency Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in collaboration with NASA prepared a lunar orbiter study in July 2014 and both agencies signed an agreement in December 2016.
As per South Korean scientists, the lunar orbiter will pave the way for the country's more ambitious goal of landing on the moon by 2030.
In June, South Korea successfully launched satellites into orbit around the Earth for the first time using its own rockets.
Earlier, Elon Musk, the owner of the space company, had said that if everything goes well, the first orbital launch of the Starship rocket would take place in the month of May. That is, this spacecraft will go back to the lower orbit of the earth and will land safely. In the future, it is planned to send astronauts to the moon and Mars through this rocket.
SpaceX (SpaceX) is making the Starship (Starship) so that people and cargo can be delivered to the moon and Mars. This spacecraft is divided into two parts. The first lower part is called Super Heavy.
The second is the upper-stage spacecraft called Starship. Both can be used again and again after being completely used.
It was necessary to cross a stage regarding this launch. This environmental review has been completed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Now the FAA has given permission to fly and test after completing the review. So it is expected that SpaceX will work more quickly on the launch of Starship.
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