China News Service, August 5th. According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's first lunar orbiter, "Danuri", was launched at 8:08 a.m. South Korea time on the 5th (7:08 p.m. Eastern time on the 4th). .
According to reports, the "Danuri" separated from the rocket at about 1,656 kilometers from the surface at 8:47, 40 minutes after liftoff, and then flew along the predetermined orbit.
According to the report, the "Danuri" will not fly straight to the moon, which is about 380,000 kilometers away from the earth, but will fly as far as 1.56 million kilometers in the direction of the sun, and then return to the earth and the moon in a "8" shape like a butterfly. system, and finally entered a lunar orbit.
It will take at least two or three hours after liftoff to determine whether the "Danuri" has entered this ballistic lunar transfer orbit (Ballistic Lunar Transfer).
The US space exploration technology company (SpaceX) broadcast live on the Youtube channel of the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket carrying the South Korean lunar probe, which was fired at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base 40 Spaceport in Florida, USA. process.
If the process of launch, orbiting and entering lunar orbit at the end of the year are all successful, South Korea is expected to become the seventh country in the world to have a lunar probe.