South Korea's first lunar orbiter Danuri is expected to enter the moon's orbit this week. 

According to the science ministry on Thursday, Danuri will conduct on Saturday its first lunar orbit insertion (LOI), a maneuver to enter the orbit around the moon as planned.

The LOI is a complex move that involves lowering the speed of the spacecraft while committing it to the gravity of the moon in order to achieve the lunar orbit altitude of 100 kilometers. 

There will be four further rounds of LOI maneuvers in the coming days to settle into orbit.

Once successful, Danuri will embark on  its yearlong mission to collect lunar surface data from January.