Wesley's Tool-Box

Nuri rocket (a.k.a. KSLV-II) launches have become something of an annual event for the past half decade. And visiting a small island in Yeosu to witness their launches in person has become a personal ritual of mine. The fifth launch of the rocket occurred at 12:25 PM on October 7, 2026 without any delays, and like the previous launches except for its maiden one, it was successful.

While successful launches all look fairly similar, there can be some interesting differences. Last time, it was a first-ever night launch. This time, it was done right in the middle of the day. All other ones were done in late afternoons. And as luck would have it, a seagull happened to be passing in front of the rocket just after takeoff, allowing me to capture this fun photo.

Another thing about this observation was that it was the second time that I used an iPhone 17 Pro Max to capture a rocket launch. Since I normally upgrade my iPhones once a year, I would have normally used different phones for each launch. But I'm waiting for iPhone Neo to be release on October 23, so this did not happen. And since iPhone Neo won't have a telephoto lens, it's likely that I'd still bring the 17 Pro Max to the sixth launch as well. Here's how the rocket looks like with its telephoto lens at maximum zoom.

Nuri, Korea's indigenous rocket also known as KSLV-2, took off from Naro Space Center for the first time in 2 and a half years at 1:13 AM today. This launch was the 4th overall, and also the first ever nighttime launch. I wasn't sure how well the photos and videos would turn out since all the rocket launches I've been to happened during the day. But I came in prepared and got the results I wanted.

For the equipment, I brought my well-trusted Nikon P1000 for the superzoom and my new iPhone 17 Pro Max as the back-up, relatively wide angle shot. Both were fortunately sensitive enough for capturing the visuals during this clear and dark night.

After returning mostly empty-handed the day before due to the scrubbed launch, I set out to Nangdo again on May 25, 2023, to watch the second attempt of the third launch of the Nuri rocket, a.k.a. KSLV-II. The weather was much better than during the first attempt, so I was able to get a mostly clear view of the launchpad and the rocket itself. However, being an evening launch with heavy clouds above still posed some challenges for getting good shots with my Nikon P1000. Fortunately, it worked out well for the most part and I could grab a nice still of the lift-off as you can see here.

The rocket soared through the sky mostly uneventfully while showing off the flames nicely as you can see here. Then Nuri disappeared into the clouds a mere minute later, so it wasn't possible to witness the stage separation. Still, people were happy to see a good, successful launch in person. I uploaded the recordings of the launch here.

Device: Nikon P1000
Settings: 3000mm - ISO 200 - 1/40s - f/8
Filters: Hoya Fusion Antistatic CIR-PL
Time: 2023-05-25 18:24 KST
Location: Yeosu, Korea
Photos processed with Pixelmator 3.3.3