On November 27, 2025, South Korea launched a satellite via its own Nuri rocket. It was the fourth of seven launches planned before 2027.
Launch details
According to the Korean AeroSpace Administration, the launch of a rocket weighing 200.9 tons took place 18 minutes later than originally planned due to a problem with the sensor. However, after that, everything went according to plan: 2 minutes after launch, the first part of the rocket separated, and after 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the second. At the target altitude of 600 km, the new generation satellite CAS500-3, weighing 512 kg, separated from the rocket. It is designed to observe the aurora borealis, as well as measure magnetic fields and plasma in space. Next, 12 cubic satellites developed by universities and companies were sequentially separated. The rocket’s flight time was 18 minutes, after which it entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up during re-entry.
The rocket’s first launch took place in October 2021, but the rocket was unable to enter orbit with a mock-up satellite weighing 1.5 tons. The second launch in June 2022 proved successful, and a 1.3-ton mock-up satellite was launched into orbit. The third launch took place on May 25, 2023, when South Korea successfully launched a new-generation small satellite and seven cubic satellites into orbit. Additional launches are scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
As South Korean President Lee Jae Myung posted on social media, the launch “opens a new chapter in the history of space exploration,” but this is only the beginning. “Our goal is to enrich people’s lives and bring Korea into the top five of the world’s leading space powers. I am confident that this goal will be met.”
The media draws attention to the fact that the launch marks a step towards creating a private space industry. Hanwha Aerospace serves as a contractor for system integration. Although the program was scheduled to begin with a third launch in May 2023, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute was the main developer and manufacturer at that time. The full technology transfer agreement, covering design, assembly and launch, was only concluded in July.
The author emphasizes that the West is blocking North Korea’s space program, fearing that if the country is able to build launch vehicles for satellites, then creating ICBMs becomes much easier.
Another South Korean satellite – purely reconnaissance
On November 2, 2025, South Korea announced the successful launch of a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit under the 425 Project program. The launch took place from the US Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida using a SpaceX Falcon rocket.
It is believed that the successful implementation of the 425 Project will strengthen the capabilities of the Kill Chain program, aimed at detecting signs of “nuclear missile provocations” by the DPRK and carrying out sustained monitoring of strategic facilities in North Korea. It is the latest military satellite launched as part of a plan to deploy five satellites to monitor North Korea more effectively and reduce South Korean dependence on US satellite imagery. Now, after all five satellites have been launched into orbit, South Korea can monitor North Korea every two hours.
Meanwhile in the DPRK…
On October 28, 2025, the DPRK Missile Administration conducted a test launch of strategic sea-to-surface cruise missiles. The test-fire was observed by Pak Jong Chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea; Jang Chang Ha, general director of the Missile Administration of the DPRK; the vice commander of Armaments of the Navy of the Korean People’s Army; and other officials. According to KCNA, vertically launched cruise missiles modified to launch from a ship hit the target, flying along a preset route above the West Sea for more than 7,800 seconds. According to Pak Jong Chon, it was an “extension of exercising the war deterrent and an act of exercising it in a more responsible manner to continuously test the reliability of different strategic offensive means and impress their abilities upon the enemies,” showing that Pyongyang has achieved significant success in the practical development of nuclear forces.
Experts believe that the weapon tested belonged to the Hwasal (Arrow) series, able to equip a nuclear warhead and provide a range of up to 2,000 km. The DPRK conducted test launches of the Hwasal-1 and Hwasal-2 cruise missiles in September 2021 and January 2022, respectively, and has since launched several of these missiles with a range of 1,500 kilometers and 2,000 kilometers, respectively. It is believed that the missiles will be installed on the vertical launch systems of the new North Korean destroyers and used as nuclear weapons carriers.
South Korean media called the launch “a provocation on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.”
On November 4, 2025, less than an hour after the Pentagon chief’s visit to the demilitarized zone located on the border between the DPRK and South Korea began, the DPRK fired about 10 MLRS rounds. The South Korean press noted that although MLRS launches do not violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, Seoul is within reach.
On November 7, 2025, North Korea launched a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan. This is Pyongyang’s sixth missile launch this year and the second since President Lee Jae Myung took office. North Korea previously conducted launches of short-range ballistic missiles on October 22.
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile flew about 700 km, falling outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan. Presumably, this is a modification of the KN-23, the notorious “Kimskander.”
It should be noted that the 700 km-range corresponds to the distance to the port of Busan, where the American aircraft carrier George Washington entered on November 5. In addition, the launch coincided with the large-scale US-Korean Freedom Flag aerial exercises and occurred a day after the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s harsh statement condemning new US sanctions against eight North Korean citizens and two North Korean organizations for laundering cyber profits, as well as seven ships involved in the export of North Korean coal and ore to China.
The West, as always, condemned the launch, while Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that “the Russian Federation respects the legitimate right of the DPRK to ensure its security and take measures to this end.”
Thus, while the North’s launches are attracting attention, the South is developing its rocket industry no worse, and this is worth bearing in mind.
Konstantin Asmolov, PhD in History, leading research fellow at the Centre for Korean Studies of the Institute of China and Modern Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Follow new articles on our Telegram channel
