December 4, 2023 05:00 UTC South Korean military orbital LV launch

[Liss]

NOTAM:

Z0801/23 NOTAMN 
Q) RKRR/QWMXX/IV/BO/W/000/999/3535N12700E999
A) RKRR B) 2311290500 C) 2312060837
E) TEST ROCKET WILL BE LAUNCHED AS FLW
- PLANNED LAUNCH DATE : 29 NOV 2023
- PLANNED LAUNCH WINDOW : 0500-0800 UTC
- RESERVED LAUNCH DATE : 30 NOV 2023 - 6 DEC 2023
- INITIAL LAUNCH STAGE AREA
  1.AREA COORDINATE : 331212N1261542E-331943N1262459E-331535N1264455E
    -325020N1271826E-322755N1265210E-325818N1262338E TO THE BEGINNING
  2.VERTICAL ALTITUDE : SFC-UNL

- 1ST STAGE FALLING INFO
  1.FALLING TIME : 0520-0820 UTC
  2.FALLING AREA COORDINATE : 230533N1370644E-220354N1380414E-
    211747N1370716E-221840N1361005E TO THE BEGINNING
  3.VERTICAL ALTITUDE : SFC-UNL

- 2ND STAGE FALLING INFO
  1.FALLING TIME : 0536-0837 UTC
  2.FALLING AREA COORDINATE : 285354S1715130W-334042S1644444W-
    375958S1565032W-385510S1573351W-343310S1653152W-294300S1724002W
    TO THE BEGINNING
  3.VERTICAL ALTITUDE : SFC-UNL

REPUBLIC OF KOREA RECOMMEND RELATING CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITIES
SHOULD TAKE PROPER SAFETY MEASURES AND OPERATORS SHOULD MONITOR
ISSUING NOTAM FROM RELATING STATES.
ADDITIONAL INFO WILL BE NOTIFIED BY FURTHER NOTAM.
CREATED: 15 Nov 2023 03:17:00
SOURCE: RKRRYNYX

Launch from Jeju-do, the second stage fells east of New Zealand at 10000 km.

[Skyrocket]

Has anyone an idea what this may be?

[Space Lizard 2]

A 10,000-km range would qualify for an ICBM.

Is there something brewing up in Seoul we should know about?

Or is it just this start-up emerging from the woods?

http://koreabizwire.com/s-korean-startup-to-construct-offshore-rocket-launch-platform-in-jeju/247986

[catdlr]

A 10,000-km range would qualify for an ICBM.

Is there something brewing up in Seoul we should know about?

Or is it just this start-up emerging from the woods?

http://koreabizwire.com/s-korean-startup-to-construct-offshore-rocket-launch-platform-in-jeju/247986

There is also an ongoing thread on this company but no mention of an upcoming launch.

Perigee Aerospace

[Liss]

Talks of a South Korean solid fuel launch vehicle are several years old, and two flight tests of some test vehicles occured in 2022.

[Zed_Noir]

A 10,000-km range would qualify for an ICBM.
<snip>

Any orbital launch vehicle qualifies as an IRBM or an ICBM depending on the throw weight (payload mass). No matter how impractical due to the propellants used in the launcher.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I think it's related to this South Korean military small orbital launch vehicle testing program: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=56091.0

Back on the last launch in December 2022 they were planning a 4 stage sub-orbital launch in 2023:

This rocket will have 4 stages in total, of which 3 upper stages were tested until last year. This year they will launch the full scale model afaik. Full launcher also features 8 boosters, as shown in the image below. It is an ADD program with Hanwha as primary contractor.

Two launches are planned for 2025 and 2026. Improved model with 1000kg payload to 500km SSO capacity will be launched in 2026 and 2027. I'm not sure if this "improved launcher" is the version with the 8 boosters.

[russianhalo117]

Jeju-do is South Korea's largest island and houses the Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port serving South Korean allied nuclear submarines. The island also performs controversial military weapons systems testing. The publicly listed base address is 2748-1 Daecheon-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea which is where the purpose-built commercially developed offshore natural resources exploration platform's home base of operations is.

[slush hypergolic]

Back on the last launch in December 2022 they were planning a 4 stage sub-orbital launch in 2023:

This launch could be orbital, though nothing official AFAIK (other than a mostly reliable ROK aerospace blogger mentioning an experimental smallsat payload):

https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=snaileyes_elecket&logNo=223270294433&navType=by

고체발사체 상단에 탑재된 페이로드는 과거 S-STEP으로 불리던 초소형SAR위성이며 이번 발사를 통해 그 작동성을 검증하게 된다.

(Quoted sentence states that the solid propellant vehicle's payload is a prototype small SAR satellite previously called S-STEP).

Another piece of evidence is a South Korean public broadcaster quoting a "government source" stating that the launch excludes the "2nd stage" (to avoid overshooting the target altitude with the exceptionally light payload):

(At 1:13 in the video.)


The previous test launch included two solid and one liquid PBS stage IIRC, so the upcoming mission could exclude the "1st stage" motor from previous launches.


Either way, we'll see if / when the ROK MND reveals the mission's outcome.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Whatever this is, it seems it has been delayed to next week.
https://twitter.com/kampfwagen_i/status/1729739427377819938

[catdlr]

Whatever this is, it seems it has been delayed to next week.
https://twitter.com/kampfwagen_i/status/1729739427377819938

It is said that the launch delay was due to bad weather and other reasons.

English translated news article:

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Possibly rescheduled for today, 04:30 - 08:00 UTC.
Related marine navigation warnings:

291145Z NOV 23
HYDROPAC 3783/23(81).
PHILIPPINE SEA.
DNC 12.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   040430Z TO 040800Z DEC, ALTERNATE
   0430Z TO 0800Z DAILY 05 AND 06 DEC
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   23-05.55N 137-06.73E, 22-03.90N 138-04.24E,
   21-17.78N 137-07.27E, 22-18.67N 136-10.09E.
2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 3721/23.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 060900Z DEC 23.

291104Z NOV 23
HYDROPAC 3780/23(83).
SOUTH PACIFIC.
DNC 06.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS
   0430Z TO 0800Z DAILY 04 THRU 06 DEC
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   28-53.54S 171-51.30W, 37-59.58S 156-50.32W,
   38-55.10S 157-33.51W, 29-43.00S 172-40.02W.
2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 3708/23.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 060900Z DEC 23.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Apparently launched:
https://twitter.com/arrow_cf/status/1731546215949730279

[slush hypergolic]

The ROK military confirmed that a small satellite was placed into orbit.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231204002651315?section=nk/nk

The space launch vehicle was launched from a barge floating in waters about 4 kilometers south of Jeju Island at 2 p.m. and placed a small Earth observation satellite into orbit at an altitude of about 650 km, the ministry said.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231204002651315?section=nk/nk

(LEAD) S. Korea successfully conducts third test flight of solid-fuel space rocket

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in first 5 paras; CHANGES headline)
By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea successfully conducted a third test flight of a solid-fuel space rocket Monday, the defense ministry said, as part of efforts to build its independent space-based surveillance system against North Korea.

The space launch vehicle was launched from a barge floating in waters about 4 kilometers south of Jeju Island at 2 p.m. and placed a small Earth observation satellite into orbit at an altitude of about 650 km, the ministry said.

The 100-kilogram synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite is made by Hanwha Systems.

....

Apparently the vehicle has its 2nd stage left out (this stage was fired in the March and December 2022 test flights) so it's not in the full configuration, per the South Korean Ministry of Defense press release.

https://twitter.com/kampfwagen_I/status/1731556076771008739

[slush hypergolic]

The payload (Hanwha's prototype small SAR satellite) has made contact with ground stations.

https://twitter.com/yonhaptweet/status/1731571084041077052

[Int.RocketLaunches]

More photos of the launch

[Galactic Penguin SST]

On board cameras:

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Official launch photos:
https://twitter.com/ROK_MND/status/1731600893886574671

[catdlr]

On board cameras:

Galactic,  Thanks a lot for this. I was searching for myself and had given up. I'm amazed by the amount of information provided in this video.

Best
Tony