▲ South Korea's first homegrown space launch vehicle, known as Nuri, lifts off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, 473 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

S Korea-space rocket probe

Loose anchor for helium tank blamed for Nuri rocket failure: science ministry

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- The loosening of a device to anchor a helium tank of the Nuri space rocket was found to have caused the early shutdown of the rocket's third-stage engine, leading to a mission failure, the science ministry said Wednesday.

In October, South Korea launched the country's first homegrown space rocket, also called the KSLV-II.

It flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers, but failed to put the dummy satellite into orbit as its third-stage engine burned out 46 seconds earlier than expected.

The government set up a committee, involving the researchers of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and other aerospace experts, to learn what went wrong.

After weeks of investigation, the committee concluded that the helium tank fell away from the oxidizer tank of the rocket after an anchoring device was unwound as buoyancy increased during the flight, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The detached tank then caused the unexpected leakage of helium and oxidizer to reduce their necessary supplies to the engine and ultimately to shut it off prematurely, according to the committee.

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