Korea’s Innospace announced it has postponed the launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket, originally scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17), to Friday at 3:45 pm. It would have been the first time a commercial flight departed from a Brazilian base. 

According to a statement, the company changed the launch date to allow sufficient time to “replace components after detecting an anomaly in the cooling device of the first stage oxidizer supply system during the final inspection.”

The Brazilian Air Force, which operates the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão state, confirmed the postponement.

The space vehicle – which is 21.8 m long, 1.4 m in diameter, and weighs 20 tons – was scheduled to go into space on Wednesday, carrying satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of some 300 km and an inclination of 40 degrees.

The launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket, developed by South Korean company Innospace, will take place from the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão state and is scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17) at 3:45 pm Brasília time.

According to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), which will conduct the operation, the launch window runs from December 16 to 22. This is the first commercial launch of a space vehicle from Brazilian territory.

“It will be an inaugural flight from Brazil, symbolizing the country’s entry into the global space launch market,” said Colonel Clóvis Martins de Souza, director of the launch center.

The mission, called Operation Spaceward, involves around 400 professionals – including Brazilians, both military and civilian, and South Koreans. The Air Force described the inititive as an unprecedented and strategic advance for the Brazilian Space Program.

“It is a milestone that demonstrates our technical maturity and inserts Brazil into the global commercial launch market. Alcântara is establishing itself as a strategic space hub, attracting investment, companies, and innovation. It is a significant step for Brazil’s future in space,” said the head of the CLA Operations Division, Major Engineer Robson Coelho de Oliveira.

The space vehicle – which is 21.8 meters long, 1.4 meters in diameter, and weighs 20 tons – will carry satellites into low Earth orbit, at an altitude of approximately 300 km and an inclination of 40 degrees.

A total of eight payloads are inside the fairing at the top of the launch vehicle – five small satellites for placement in orbit and three experimental devices. The equipment's propulsion is hybrid, using solid and liquid fuel.