Nuri rocket's fifth launch lofts record 15 satellites with Hanwha Aerospace in expanded role

South Korea's Nuri launch vehicle lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung on October 7, 2026 on its fifth flight, carrying a record 15 satellites: five KAIST NEONSAT cluster satellites (units 2 to 6) as the main payload and ten cubesats. Hanwha Aerospace, the designated system integrator under the government's launch-vehicle technology transfer program, took a larger share of assembly and launch operations than on previous flights, a step toward the company leading future Nuri missions and the next-generation launcher. One satellite reportedly failed to deploy. Bloomberg framed the expanded Hanwha role as a sign of growing reliance on private industry for Korea's space ambitions.