South Korea gets serious about space ambitions

William Atkins
Friday, 23 November 2007 20:26

Science - Space

Microsoft Office 365

In 1990, South Korea began developing its own rockets. It produced, in the early 1990s, the one-stage KSR-1 (Korea Sounding Rocket 1) rocket and two-stage KSR-2 rocket.

In 2002, South Korea successfully launched its liquid-fueled (liquid oxygen/kerosene) scientific test rocket KSR-III.

South Korea also has a scheduled launch, late in 2008, of its Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1). The 170-ton rocket is capable of launching a 100-kilogram satellite into low-Earth orbit. The first-stage of the KSLV is based on the Russian Khrunichev Angara rocket.

It hopes to launch, in 2009, its first multipurpose geostationary satellite, COMS-1 (Communication, Ocean, Meterological Satellite 1).

In 2017, South Korea plans the launch of a 300-ton rocket, KSLV-2, that will be manufactured totally within the country. The project is expected to cost U.S.$3.9 billion dollars over a ten year period.

The country is also developing the following satellites: KOMSAT-2 (Korea Multipurpose Satellite 2), KOMSAT-3, and KOMSAT-5.

The first South Korean astronaut is scheduled to liftoff from a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in April 2008 for a trip to the International Space Station. Ko San, a male researcher at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, is scheduled to become South Korea's first astonaut. His backup is Yi So-yeon, a female researcher at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. South Korea hopes to gain worldwide attention to its fledgling space program by its presence at the space station.

The Naro Space Center--a space research center and a rocket launching pad in Goheung County on the southern tip of its peninsula--is being constructed with the help of Russia. It is scheduled to open in 2008.
For for information about the South Korean space program, go to: http://www.astronautix.com/country/korsouth.htm.