Korea Aerospace Research Institute

Hello! We are the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, but many people call us by our nickname, KARI. We are South Korea’s national space agency. Our story began in 1989 when we were created with a very important job: to study and explore the sky and outer space. We use science and technology to learn new things about the world above us and the universe all around us. It's our mission to reach for the stars and help everyone understand them a little better.

One of our biggest jobs is to design and build things that can fly. You might picture big airplanes that carry people, and we do work on those. But we also build very special flying machines called satellites. Have you ever wondered how your family knows if it’s going to rain tomorrow, or how someone can talk on the phone with a person far away? Satellites help with that! These machines are sent into space, where they circle high above the Earth in a path called an orbit. From up there, our satellites act like eyes in the sky. They use special cameras to take pictures of our planet, which can help us watch for big storms or see how forests are changing. They also help us study the weather so we can be prepared for sunny days or snowy ones. Other satellites help people communicate by sending signals all around the world.

But how do we get these helpful satellites all the way up into space? They can't fly there on their own. They need a ride on something very powerful. That’s why we needed a rocket. Instead of buying one from someone else, we decided to build one ourselves! It was a huge project that took many, many years to complete. We brought together a large team of brilliant scientists and engineers who worked together to solve difficult problems. We named our special rocket Nuri. Building Nuri was a big challenge, but our team worked hard every day because we knew how important it was for our journey to space.

Finally, after all those years of planning, building, and testing, a very exciting day came in 2022. It was time to see if our Nuri rocket was ready to fly. We launched it from the ground, and it soared up, up, up into the sky and successfully reached space! It was a wonderful moment for everyone who had worked on the project. This successful launch was a big achievement not just for us at KARI, but for all of South Korea. It showed that we could build our own rocket and send things into orbit. Today, we are busy working on new missions. With Nuri, we can continue to send new satellites into space to help people on Earth and to learn even more amazing secrets about our universe.