Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

South Korea’s second test flight of solid-propellant space launch vehicle successful

Development to be completed by 2025

Early establishment of defense space power

The South Korean military took one step further towards becoming one of the “top seven space powers” with the successful second test flight of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle. The Ministry of National Defense aims to secure defense space power earlier based on jointness by completing development by 2025.

On January 2, the Ministry of National Defense said that “On December 30, the second test flight of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle, which took place on the coast near the test site of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), achieved a more advanced success than in the first test, and this will be an important milestone in consolidating our military’s independent buildup of defense space capabilities.”

This flight tested the ignition and combustion of the second-, third-, and fourth-stage engines under a configuration with the second, third and fourth stages, excluding the first stage, in the four-stage launch vehicle. It is a procedure to test the combustion capability of solid rocket motors, which is the essential technology of a space launch vehicle. The design of the first-stage engine excluded in this test has been completed and a captive firing test will be conducted depending on the schedule. In addition, various technologies for fairing separation, upper stage attitude control, and payload separation (dummy satellite) were confirmed in this test, the Ministry of National Defense said.

In the first test on March 30, 2022, only the second-stage engine combusted with the same configuration.

An official of a research institute under the Ministry of National Defense said, “All events in this second launch, such as the ignition and combustion of the second-, third-, and fourth-stage engines, were performed successfully, and though it is difficult to say specifically, considerable progress has been made.” He added, “A satellite will be mounted on the solid-propellant space launch vehicle after additional validations.”

The South Korean military reportedly plans to develop a solid-propellant space launch vehicle by 2025. Solid rocket motors can be used for space launch vehicles that lift small satellites or multiple microsatellites to the low Earth orbits.

The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that the “Our military will develop space launch vehicles that can lift small satellites or multiple microsatellites to the low Earth orbits based on technology and expertise related to solid rocket motors, thereby establishing an independent space surveillance and reconnaissance capability, and such technology will be spun off to the private sector for various space launch services, contributing to the development of the private sector space industry."

Before the test, the Ministry of National Defense took airspace and coastal safety measures. A ministry official said, “While we ensured safety in the coastal area falling under the flight routes, we minimized interruptions of fishing activities, and the test was conducted in dark hours by considering climate conditions.”

By Chae-Mu, Im <lims86@dema.mil.kr >

<Copyright ⓒ The Korea Defense Daily, All rights reserved>