Behind the success of the second launch of the Korean launch vehicle Nuri (KSLV-II) on the 21st, there was an ‘automatic fuel control system’ inside the three-stage rocket.
At 4:02 pm, 123 seconds after launch, Nuri separated the first stage rocket at an altitude of 59 km.
Then, the fairing was separated at 191 km and the second stage was separated at 258 km.
The second stage separation was completed at 4:04 pm, 269 seconds after launch, which was about 5 seconds earlier than expected (274 seconds).
This was within the error range that was considered from the planning stage, and experts explained that it was the result of self-regulating the output of the combustion device installed in the three-stage rocket.
Professor Jang Young-geun of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Korea Aerospace University said, “As the rocket burns, it automatically measures the altitude and speed data, and when the desired standard is reached, the fuel and oxidizer input are adjusted.”
The first-stage and second-stage rockets burn all fuel, so errors may occur, and it is said that there is an output adjustment function in consideration of the range expected to occur in actual launch.
Kim Jong-am, a professor of aerospace engineering at Seoul National University, who observed the launch site, explained, “It is an error that can come from a normal launch sequence.”
However, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute declined to comment on the cause of the error.
Koh Jung-hwan, head of the Korea-type launch vehicle development project division at the Korea Air Defense Association, said, “The event progressed a little faster than originally planned,” and “it is still too early to say what kind of impact it had.”
/yunhap news
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