It has been several weeks since I ran one of these, but this weekend's stories are lining up well.
South Korea's space efforts are ramping up
There are three stories pointing this way in this week's Rocket Report from Ars Technica.
The first story is about a satellite that was launched for Korea on a Vega C rocket by Arianespace.
The Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-7 (Kompsat-7) mission launched from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. About 44 minutes after liftoff, the Kompsat-7 satellite was deployed into SSO at an altitude of 358 miles (576 kilometers). “By launching the Kompsat-7 satellite, set to significantly enhance South Korea’s Earth observation capabilities, Arianespace is proud to support an ambitious national space program,” said David Cavaillolès, CEO of Arianespace, in a statement. (SSO = Sun-Synchronous Orbit)
The story is novel for a couple of reasons, the first is that it’s the first time in more than two years that a satellite for a customer outside Europe has been launched by Arianespace. The backlog for the Vega C is almost entirely for European customers, private interests or governments. The Ariane 6, the heavier lift vehicle in the Arianespace’s inventory, has 18 launches reserved for the US-based Amazon Leo broadband network.
The second story is that Korea has a homegrown launch vehicle called Nuri.
Nuri took off from Naro Space Center on November 27 with the CAS500-3 technology demonstration and Earth observation satellite, along with 12 smaller CubeSat rideshare payloads, Yonhap News Agency reports. The 200-ton Nuri rocket debuted in 2021, when it failed to reach orbit on a test flight. Since then, the rocket has successfully reached orbit three times. This mission marked the first time for Hanwha Aerospace to oversee the entire assembly process as part of the government’s long-term plan to hand over space technologies to the private sector. The fifth and sixth launches of the Nuri rocket are planned in 2026 and 2027.
I would have to assume the Nuri has so small a payload capacity that the Kompsat-7 was too big for it, or lifting it on their own launch vehicle wasn't a high priority.
An interesting side note about Nuri is that it doesn't use methane or kerosene for fuel, as so many vehicles do. It uses a special form of kerosene called by several names: among them
The Nuri rocket has three stages, each with engines burning Jet A-1 fuel and liquid oxygen. The fuel choice is unusual for rockets, with highly refined RP-1 kerosene or methane being more popular among hydrocarbon fuels. The engines are manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace. The fully assembled rocket stands about 155 feet (47.2 meters) tall and can deliver up to 3,300 pounds (1.5 metric tons) of payload into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit.
South Korea's Nuri 1 rocket is lifted into its vertical position on its launch pad in this multi-exposure photo. Credit: Korea Aerospace Research Institute
Meanwhile, much like Honda, there's Hyundai
Back in June, Japanese automaker Honda made headlines launching a small, single stage test vehicle that returned to the launch site and performed a controlled landing.
Now Korea's Hyundai has entered the space business - at least to develop the engines.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s space sector is looking to the future. Another company best known for making cars has started a venture in the rocket business. Hyundai Rotem, a member of Hyundai Motor Group, announced a joint program with Korean Air’s Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) to develop a 35-ton-class reusable methane rocket engine for future launch vehicles. The effort is funded with KRW49 billion ($33 million) from the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT).
By the end of the decade … The government-backed program aims to develop the engine by the end of 2030. Hyundai Rotem will lead the engine’s planning and design, while Korean Air, the nation’s largest air carrier, will lead development of the engine’s turbopump. “Hyundai Rotem began developing methane engines in 1994 and has steadily advanced its methane engine technology, achieving Korea’s first successful combustion test in 2006,” Hyundai Rotem said in a statement. “Furthermore, this project is expected to secure the technological foundation for the commercialization of methane engines for reusable space launch vehicles and lay the groundwork for targeting the global space launch vehicle market.”
I should re-emphasize that the joint program is to develop a 35-ton-class engine, not a complete launch vehicle. Those two paragraphs are exactly everything the source had so there's no mention about a vehicle's size, number of stages, engines - or any of those important words.
Still, all of the increased activity in the space sector from Korea that we've seen in just this one newsletter is great to see.
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