The KSLV-Ⅱ, a Korean launch vehicle developed with indigenous technology, is set to launch for the third time on Thursday with a commercial-grade satellite. In the midst of this, Japanese Nuri users are showing a cold reaction, wishing for the launch to fail.

According to articles and online communities related to the launch on the Japanese Yahoo Japan portal, Japanese users are pouring out bad words about the launch.

One user (k) wrote, “I hope the launch of the Nuri, which was built with blueprints obtained by rummaging through Russian trash cans, goes well. It will probably end in disaster,” wrote one. Another (tpa*) chimed in, “Are you prepared to make excuses or assign blame if it fails?”

A user (k) wrote: “I hope the launch of the Nuri, which was built from plans found in Russian trash cans, goes well. It will probably end in disaster,” while tpa* wrote, “Are you ready to make excuses or shift blame if it fails?” Yahoo Japan capture

A typical distortion by Japanese commenters was that the Nuri was built with Russian technology. “The Nuri was built with technology from a real rocket that Russia mistakenly gave us instead of a wartime rocket model,” the commenter (hir) claimed.

The Nuri was designed, built, and tested using indigenous technology. Nevertheless, Japanese Nuri enthusiasts cling to the fact that the Naro was once co-developed with Russia, which distorts their perception.

Naro after its successful launch in 2013. Courtesy of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute

This perception can be seen in the reactions of Japanese social media users, who called it “a self-proclaimed purely domestic rocket developed with Russian technology” and “a purely Korean rocket made in Russia.”

On the local anonymous online community “5ch,” reactions such as “If the alarm goes off at 6 p.m., let’s evacuate underground,” “If debris falls on Japan, the Self-Defense Forces should intercept it,” and “No one in the world is interested.

One member wrote, “Japan has completely developed H3 from H2A, and especially H3 uses solid fuel as propellant, which is very difficult to control. It’s amazing that South Korea invests taxpayer money in meaningless space development just to save face먹튀검증,” and mocked it as the “seventh space mania”.

Japan’s H3 rocket launched in March. Yonhap News Agency

In fact, Japan has spent about 206 billion yen (about 2 trillion won) since 2014 to develop the H3 rocket by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a replacement for its existing flagship H2A rocket.

The first H3 was launched in March, but the second stage rocket’s engine failed to ignite during ascent, forcing JAXA to abort the mission and self-destruct the vehicle.

Last October, the Ypsilon 6, Japan’s small solid-fuel rocket, also failed to launch. It is the first time in 19 years that Japan has failed to launch a workhorse rocket since the H2A-6 in November 2003.

Nuri is scheduled to lift off at 6:24 p.m., with the exact launch time to be determined within 30 minutes before or after that time. However, the launch could be postponed if there are concerns about a possible collision with a space object or if conditions are not favorable, such as winds.

Nuri’s mission is to put eight commercial-grade satellites into orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers, having already successfully put dummy satellites into orbit in a second launch in June last year.

“I think it will be the most powerful if the people of Korea send us warm encouragement and support,” Oh Tae-seok, Vice Minister of Science and ICT, said on CBS’s Kim Hyun-jung’s news show, adding, “We will also launch a lunar lander in 2032.”