Korea launches its first Korean launch vehicle in October this year
Advanced countries such as the United States and China intensify’war’ such as exploration of the moon, enactment of rules, and civil commercialization
On the afternoon of the 28th, a test projectile of the Nuri engine, a Korean projectile, is soaring into the sky at the launch pad of the Naroju Center, Bongrae-myeon, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do. This engine test launch vehicle is to verify the performance of the 75t liquid engine used in the Korean launch vehicle’Nuri’, and corresponds to the second stage of the Nuri, which consists of a total of three stages. The length of the test projectile is 25.8m, the maximum diameter is 2.6m, and the weight is 52.1t./Goheung = Joint Photographic Foundation
[아시아경제 김봉수 기자] Space development is regarded as one of the only means for humanity’s’sustainability’ in the future. This is because there is a high possibility that the earth will no longer be able to handle humanity due to the depletion of resources as well as the increasingly extreme environmental pollution and climate change. Already, major powers such as Europe, Japan, Russia, and China, as well as the United States, are striving to pioneer their territory by investing enormous amounts of money and time in space development, such as building satellites and shuttles, and exploration on the moon and Mars. Korea, which is still in its infancy, is also planning to begin space development in earnest, such as launching a native three-stage rocket that can be used as a satellite launch vehicle in October this year, but there is still a long way to go compared to major advanced countries.
The increasingly fierce space development war
The United States, a leading country in space development, is eager to work on the’Artemis Project’, an international program for lunar exploration. It is a project to send two astronauts, including women, to the moon by 2024. Already, NASA has landed a total of 12 astronauts on the moon six times from 1969 to 1972 through the Apollo Program.
In particular, the United States is expressing its intention to make the’rules’ of space development on its own initiative. In October of last year, the’Artemis Agreement’ was signed with nine countries including Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, and the United Kingdom, which contained the principles of cooperation for the use of the moon, Mars, and asteroids and private space exploration.
In the same year, it announced the Space Policy Directive-5 (SPD-5) for establishing cybersecurity standards and the national strategy for the use of nuclear propellants in space (SPD-6). With the establishment of the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) under the Ministry of Transportation (DOC) and the deregulation of commercial space launch and re-entry by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Elon Musk’s’SpaceX’ and other commercial space development support was initiated, while the formation of space forces was in full swing.
[이미지출처=AFP연합뉴스]
China is also actively engaged in space development by launching lunar and Mars probes one after another in accordance with the space development roadmap announced in 2018. Tenwen 1, the Mars probe launched by China in July 2020, successfully entered Mars orbit on the 10th, and Changeo 5, launched in November of the same year, succeeded in collecting samples of the moon and returning to Earth a month later. It was a great achievement. China plans to launch the Changeo 6 in 2023 with the vision of rising to become the world’s greatest space power by 2045, collecting asteroid samples a year later, and returning to the mission.
Russia is developing Luna 25, 26, and 27 respectively in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) to resume exploration of the moon, which was suspended in 1998, and plans to launch them in sequence for four years starting this year. In addition, the Orbit Service Station (ROSS) will be installed and operated from 2024, and it is planned to consist of 3 to 7 modules that can accommodate 2 to 4 astronauts.
Europe is also pursuing the launch of a solar orbiter, exploration of Jupiter, and research on dark matter in accordance with the’Comsmic Vision 2015-2025′. In the case of Japan, in August of last year, a space operation unit within the Air Self-Defense Force was launched and plans to install a space surveillance system by 2023 and launch a space environment monitoring satellite by 2026 with the goal of safe operation of its own satellites. In December of last year, the Hayabusa 2 probe, launched in March 2014, collected soil samples from the asteroid’Ryugu’ and succeeded in returning to Earth. Participating in the U.S.-led Artemis program, it is promoting the development of a residential platform in the base camp and a residential module in the moon orbit space station.
India announced the’Spacecom Policy 2020′ last year to encourage the private space development industry, and is actively promoting the commercial use of its own launch vehicle. To this end, the National Space Agency (IN-SPACe) was launched. India is striving to commercialize space launch services last year by successfully launching 10 satellites in four countries, including its own communication satellite, through the PSLV-C49 launch vehicle.
▲ Apollo 4 is being launched on November 9, 1967.[사진제공=NASA]
Korea, from’stepma’ to’leap’
The level of space development in Korea is still only at the beginning level. Compared to advanced countries that have manned spacecrafts coming and going, launching thousands of satellites, and even exploration on the moon and Mars, they have not yet developed a means (space launch vehicle) to carry things out of space, whether they are objects or people. The number of satellites to be used for commercial and military use is also very short, and long-distance space exploration is not in a hurry. However, the government has established the’Basic Plan for the Promotion of Space Development’ and has invested enormous budgets to develop space, the last bastion of mankind. This can be seen by looking at the ‘2021 Space Development Plan’, which was confirmed by the Ministry of Science and Technology Information and Communication on the 8th.
In October of this year, the government plans to launch the first satellite launcher’Nuri (KSLV-II)’ developed with its own technology into space. The government is planning to secure the ability to launch a 1.5t-class low-orbit satellite, and develop a 3t-class geostationary satellite launching capability in the future, in order to build an independent space launch vehicle technology, the most important step for space development.
To this end, it is developing the Nuri, a space launcher for low orbit, with a total project cost of 1.9572 trillion won from 2010 to next year. In 2018, it succeeded in testing part of the engine body, and last year, it succeeded in a three-stage comprehensive combustion test for a Korean-type projectile, and after assembling a first-stage certified model, it achieved results, and is currently starting to manufacture the first flight model. The Nuri is a three-stage liquid rocket with a loading weight of 1500 kg and a length of 47.2 m. The first stage consists of four 75t class liquid engines, the second stage consists of one 75t class, and the third stage consists of one 7t class. It was initially scheduled to be launched during this month, but it was postponed.
The project to develop and utilize various high-tech satellites will also be promoted in earnest. The next-generation medium-sized satellite 1 will be launched in Kazakhstan in March using the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle. It is being developed jointly by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to meet public demand and foster related industries, and will be used in various fields such as ground observation and change detection, urban planning, and map production in the future. It is planning to develop satellites for various purposes through a 500kg standard platform. Currently, No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 are being developed, and No. 3 and No. 5 will start development this year and next year respectively.
The development of Cheonnihan 3 is also underway. It is developed for the purpose of responding to disasters and safety such as monitoring water disasters, supporting marine security activities, and supporting emergency communication in disaster areas, providing GPS correction signals, and testing the future satellite communication technology. In addition, multipurpose utility satellites 6 and 7, which are being developed to provide various public services such as national security through all-weather ground observation, are also undergoing finishing work such as total assembly and functional tests with the aim of launching in 2022.
Along with this, a full-fledged military satellite development is underway such as securing a micro-satellite cluster system that can be used for military use, as well as a second-stage military satellite communication system, a reconnaissance satellite for strategic target monitoring, and a micro-satellite system.
Korea’s own space exploration also begins. Korea’s first’moon exploration orbiter’ using a Korean launch vehicle is being developed with the aim of launching in 2022. This year, a payload that will perform various missions such as photographing the lunar surface will be assembled with an orbiter and a total assembly test of the lunar orbital system will be conducted. In order to observe the space environment, understand space weather, and utilize basic research in coping with space disasters, it plans to launch four 10kg-class nano-satellites led by the Astronomical Research Institute in the second half of this year. Like the next-generation medium-sized satellite 1, the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle will be used in Kazakhstan.
The Korean Satellite Navigation System (KPS), which can replace the regional navigation system entirely dependent on the United States (GPS), has also been built to provide location, navigation and visual information essential for the 4th industrial revolution such as autonomous vehicles and drones and national infrastructure operation. I am going to do it. After securing the budget for the first half of this year, full-scale development will begin next year.
Reporter Kim Bong-soo [email protected]