[News Today] KOREA’S FUTURE ROCKET PLANS

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SpaceX's recent triumph is also steering South Korea's space strategy. The government is developing a successor to the Nuri rocket, emphasizing reusable technology. The blueprint for this 'Korean-made rocket' is expected by the year's end.

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Nuri, Korea's first homegrown rocket, was launched in 2021.

It will be launched three more times starting next year. The additional launches are to improve its performance. The technological findings gained from these launches will be applied to the next-generation of launch vehicles.

The aim is to triple the thrust power so that a larger object can be sent to space. Until now, launch vehicles were used only once.

Future projects such as the test launches of a next-gen launch vehicle in 2030 and an unmanned lunar exploration vehicle in 2032 are all scheduled in step with the development of single-use rockets.

However, it has been argued lately that reusable rockets should be used to cut costs.

Still, this suggestion should be considered cautiously because reusing launch vehicles requires astronomical development costs and space exploration schedules will have to be changed as well.

Yoon Young-bin/ Chief, Korea Aerospace Administration (Sept.)
We're discussing whether to use large or mid-sized used launch vehicles. Reusing launch vehicles won't guarantee lowered development cost.

Consequently, experts consider testing out such key technologies like reverse thrust on future launch vehicles in phases and then completing the plan to reuse launch vehicles in the next rocket development projects.

To predict the satellite launch market ten years into the future would be extremely difficult.

The general outline of the Korean-made rockets is likely to be determined at the National Space Committee in December.