South Korean moon launch by SpaceX is getting closer

South Korea has constructed and launched its first deep space spacecraft to the United States after years of research and delays.

The Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), which was recently given the name "Danuri," will start making final preparations for its flight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket once it reaches Florida. KPLO was really transported to Florida on May 5, according to South Korea's Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which is more than two months ago. The spacecraft should be in the last stages of launch preparations by July, which include Falcon payload fairing encapsulation, propellant loading, and post-arrival inspections and checkouts.

In the event that there are no delays, the lunar orbiter could lift off as early as August 3rd Korean Time, or around 7:30 pm EDT (23:30 UTC), on August 2.

KPLO, the nation's first extraterrestrial mission, was assembled and mostly produced in South Korea, making it one of a very small number of nations who have developed their own deep space spacecraft. The "pathfinder" orbiter is designed to prepare the way for a second orbiter and domestic Moon lander, all of which are scheduled to launch on the country's own indigenous Nuri rocket. South Korea has contracted SpaceX to launch its first lunar mission.

KPLO is expected to weigh only 680 kilogrammes (1500 lb), most of which is fuel for its propulsion system. It is a small, uncomplicated spacecraft. Six primary instruments, including four cameras and five made in Korea, will be carried by the spacecraft. NASA collaborated with KARI to help with mission design, navigation, and communications and also contributed the sixth instrument, a camera that will search for ice in the Moon's deep shadows.

KPLO will be launched by Falcon 9 into a low Earth parking orbit of around 300 kilometres (185 mi), where it will remain until the rocket's upper stage executes a "translunar injection burn" to send the spacecraft on a ballistic lunar transfer (BLT). After separation, KPLO will instantly make any necessary trajectory modifications using its onboard propulsion and slot itself into orbit around the Moon, possibly as early as mid-December. The spacecraft will then start science operations, which include scouting for a landing site for South Korea's follow-on Moon lander, and enter into a circular 100-kilometer (62 mi) polar orbit around the Moon.

KPLO will be SpaceX's second commercial mission to the Moon, but it will also be the first direct launch of a payload by one of the company's Falcon rockets on a lunar trajectory. South Korea will become the sixth nation to enter lunar orbit if KPLO functions as expected.