S. Korea opens 'space era' with Naro center's completion

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- With the completion of its new space center, South
Korea hopes to lead advances not only in exploration but also in defense and
commercial technologies, experts here said Wednesday.

The Naro Space Center is at the heart of an ambitious program that aims to send
an unmanned probe to the moon in the next 20 years and make South Korea the 13th
country in the world to send a satellite into space from its own territory.
Seoul has poured roughly US$248 million into the project since 2003. The
facility, which officially opens on Thursday, occupies 5.11 million square meters
of land on the southern coast.
"If the launch scheduled for July 30 is successful, South Korea will become a
member of the 'space club' whose members have developed their own rockets and
satellites and sent this into space from a launch facility on their own soil,"
said Min Kyung-ju, head of the Naro center.
Min said that while South Korea did not independently develop the main booster
rocket for Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), which will carry a satellite
into orbit in next month's launch, it worked closely with Russian engineers and
acquired considerable expertise.
The two-stage rocket, developed jointly between the state-run Korea Aerospace
Research Institute (KARI) and Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production
Space Center, weighs 140 tons, stands 33 meters tall and has a diameter of 3
meters. It is designed to generate a thrust of 170 tons that will push the rocket
and a 100 kilogram payload to an altitude of 170 kilometers.
"Local engineers have been able to gain insight into the making of rockets and
necessary infrastructure work like the launch pad that can become a valuable
asset," Min said.
He added that while the KSLV-1, also named Naro-1, was not 100-percent South
Korean-built, the next generation KSLV-2 rocket will be constructed wholly with
domestic technology and by Korean engineers. He expected that rocket could be
launched in 2018 with a greater payload capability.
Exact specifications have yet to be worked out, although designers said the next
rocket may be 50 meters tall and have three stages with double the thrust of the
KSLV-1.
Scholars such as Kim Kyung-min, a political scientist and Hanyang University,
have noted that the ability to make and launch a space rocket also has
far-reaching commercial and security implications.
"The ability to make satellites that can keep tabs on enemies and launch them
independently can greatly enhance national security, and the super high-tech
technology needed to make a rocket or satellite has a wide range of commercial
uses," Kim wrote in a letter to a local newspaper.
Materials used to make rockets or satellites can also be used to make better cars
and building insulation, and can lead to improvements in medical services and
commercial energy generation, he said.
South Korea has previously sent 10 scientific, communication and multipurpose
satellites into space using foreign rockets that were launched abroad. The
latest, the Arirang 2 multipurpose satellite, was sent into orbit in July 2006
from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
Paik Hong-yul, a KARI senior research fellow, said a successful rocket launch
will change the paradigm of the country's space research efforts.
After the launch of the Naro Rocket, South Korea plans to send at least six other
satellites into space that could allow local engineers to build up their
launch-related knowhow, he said, adding that such work is vital for the long-term
development of the space program.
Officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said there are no
immediate plans to launch foreign satellites from Naro, although some said doing
so in the future is not out of the question.
The science ministry, meanwhile, said that completion of the Naro Space center is
part of a broader step-by-step development plan to turn the country into a
full-fledged member of the "space club," and build better and more high-tech
boosters and unmanned satellites.
South Korean scientists and engineers are currently working to test a booster
that can send a one ton payload into space within the decade, and if all goes
according to plan, Seoul will try to send a probe to the moon's surface in 2025,
according to the ministry.
The country also plans to build facilities that can check the performance of that
rocket's turbo pumps, engines and other critical machinery by 2014. Such
facilities could be used to build multi-stage rockets with multiple main engines,
which are necessary to send any large payload into orbit or beyond.
In addition to the lunar program, Seoul said it plans to launch a large satellite
weighing about 100 kilograms every three to four years, and at least two smaller
satellites weighing 1-10 kilograms every year.
South Korea, a late comer to the space race, aims to spend up to 3.6 trillion won
(US$2.8 billion) in the next 10 years to catch up with neighbors like Japan and
China that have already sent unmanned probes to the moon.
It has already spent about 1.7 trillion won over the last decade on the country's
space program.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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