The first HANBIT-Nano mission, SPACEWARD, will carry eight payloads along with one symbolic branding item.

Five of the payloads are small satellites, including two from the Federal University of Maranhao in Brazil, two from the Brazilian Space Agency for climate and environmental data collection, and one from the Indian company Grahaa Space.

That Indian satellite is SOLARAS S2, a one unit CubeSat designed for technology demonstration, solar radiation measurements, and beacon telemetry.

The remaining three payloads are non separating technology experiments, including an inertial navigation system from the Brazilian Space Agency along with a global navigation satellite system unit and another inertial navigation system from the Brazilian company Castro Leite Consultoria.

The symbolic item on the mission is an empty aluminum can provided by the South Korean company BREWGURU, included as a commemorative object for the launch.

The HANBIT-Nano is a two stage small lift orbital launch vehicle developed by the South Korean aerospace company Innospace. It is part of the Innospace HANBIT family of rockets, with Nano being the smallest in the lineup.

The HANBIT-Nano is 21.8 meters (71.5 feet) tall and has a diameter of 1.4 meters (4.6 feet). Its first stage uses a hybrid rocket engine that burns solid paraffin fuel with liquid oxygen and produces about 25 tons of thrust (55,000 pounds of force). The second stage uses a liquid methane engine that produces about 3 tons of thrust (6,500 pounds of force).

The HANBIT-Nano is designed to carry a payload of up to about 90 kilograms (198 pounds) to a sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 500 kilometers (311 miles). It is intended for nanosatellites, small science payloads, and technology demonstration missions.

Innospace has contracts for eight payloads and one commemorative item from customers in Brazil, India, and Korea.

Photo courtesy of Innospace.

The Alcântara Launch Center (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, CLA) is located in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, about 2°18′ south of the equator. Its near-equatorial position provides a strong strategic advantage for orbital launches because it allows launch vehicles to take greater advantage of the Earth’s rotational speed, improving efficiency and reducing fuel needs.

Innospace secured a contract with the Brazilian Air Force (and presumably space-regulatory authorities) to operate from CLA for its commercial launches. For Innospace, CLA serves as its primary launch site and is central to its plan for orbital missions.

The pad that Innospace is using is independently developed by the company; Innospace built its own launch infrastructure at Alcântara. The company has used CLA before: in March 2023, Innospace conducted a test launch of its HANBIT-TLV rocket from there.

The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) considers CLA a key center for future orbital and deep-space launches. Because of its equatorial location and favorable geographic and safety conditions, CLA is seen as a highly competitive spaceport for both suborbital and orbital operations.

Courtesy of Wikipedia. Photo courtesy of Innospace.