S. Korea delays launch of lunar orbiter until July 2022
- 5 years ago
또 미뤄진 내년 달 궤도선 발사...167억 증액 필요
South Korea was set to launch a prototype orbiter to the moon in December 2020, but the ministry of science said Tuesday… that it will postpone the launch by about a year and a half to July 2022.
The delay, it said, is because the engineers have found that the orbiter, in its current design, would end up weighing about 130 kilograms more than they planned.
The committee in charge has therefore decided to adjust the spacecraft's orbit to save fuel.
So when the spacecraft gets to the moon, instead of a one-year circular orbit, it'll do nine months in an elipse... and three months in a circle.
A longer design period means an extra cost of about 13 million U.S. dollars.
This is the second time the Moon administration has delayed the launch.
South Korea was set to launch a prototype orbiter to the moon in December 2020, but the ministry of science said Tuesday… that it will postpone the launch by about a year and a half to July 2022.
The delay, it said, is because the engineers have found that the orbiter, in its current design, would end up weighing about 130 kilograms more than they planned.
The committee in charge has therefore decided to adjust the spacecraft's orbit to save fuel.
So when the spacecraft gets to the moon, instead of a one-year circular orbit, it'll do nine months in an elipse... and three months in a circle.
A longer design period means an extra cost of about 13 million U.S. dollars.
This is the second time the Moon administration has delayed the launch.