TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) for South Korea’s first lunar mission.
THE KPLO will orbit the Moon for one year, carrying an array of South Korean experiments and one U.S. built instrument, NASA said.
NASA said the objectives of the mission are “to develop indigenous lunar exploration technologies, demonstrate a “space internet”, and conduct scientific investigations of the lunar environment, topography, and resources, as well as identify potential landing sites for future missions.”
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base at 7:08 p.m.
This marks the second launch of the day at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasted off early Thursday.
The rocket carried the ballistic missile warning satellite, SBIRS GEO-6.
