Danuri

KPLO, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter

Mission Profile

Danuri (KPLO, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter) is South Korea's first lunar spacecraft, launched on 4 August 2022 aboard a Falcon 9 on a low-energy ballistic lunar transfer trajectory that took four months to reach the Moon. The 678 kg orbiter carries six instruments from KARI and NASA, including the ShadowCam ultra-sensitive camera that can image permanently shadowed regions using only reflected light from crater walls, searching for evidence of water ice. Danuri makes South Korea the seventh nation to successfully operate a spacecraft in lunar orbit and provides Korea's first high-resolution lunar surface imagery, surface composition data, and space environment measurements to support future lunar exploration planning.