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KAI to Develop Korean Space Launch Vehicle

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The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Minister:Choi Mun-kee) announced that the ministry chose KAI, or Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. as Korea space launch vehicle's total system assembly company and set out for a joint job with industries for a self -reliance of the space vehicle technology.

As a part of such efforts, KAI held an agreement ceremony for the "Korea Space Launch Vehicle's Total System Assembly Project" with Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI) on the 20th(Mon.) in its headquarters located in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province and decided to achieve the successful development of the vehicle.

In the ceremony, KAI's president and CEO, Ha Sung-yong, Moon Hae-ju, an Space and Nuclear Policy officer of the ministry and Kim Seung-jo of KARI were present.

"Taking into consideration the industrialization of the Korea space launch vehicle in earnest after its development, the ministry chose KAI, the flagship firm of Korea aerospace industry as a company of the launch vehicle's total system assembly," said the ministry.

A company for the vehicle's total system assembly is in charge of the complete assembling of the constituents of the vehicle, including the structure, electronics, control and engines and manufacturing the final vehicle product.

Thus, KAI plans to conduct a job such as design for a total assembling factory, research and design of the measures for vehicle transfer, and the total assembly's jig and fixture design until July 2015, the end-point of the phase 1 of the project.

Through the project, KAI will be transferred the core technologies of the space launch vehicle to prepare for its commercialization and grow to be a space launch vehicle service provider in the years to come, setting up a long-term vision for making inroads into a global market.

The Korea space launch vehicle development project includes the development of a 75-ton-class liquid engine and development of a liquid engine technology by manufacturing and launching a test vehicle, which will lead to development of a 300-ton-class 3-staged launch vehicle while securing a space launch vehicle technology. The project budget is 1.9572 trillion won.

The current Korean government, which drives the Korea space launch vehicle development project as one of its key national agendas suggested a strategy of the "Realization of Space Power Via Self-Reliance of a Space Technology" from last year and pushes for an early achievement of its space power goal.

To that end, the government established an "Early One-year Development Plan" for launching the Korea Space Launch Vehicle which is originally scheduled for the year of 2021, in 2020, one year earlier than expected and finally fixed the plan as its national one after going through review of experts from all walks of life as well as deliberation and vote (Nov. 2013) of the National Commission on Space.

The Korea space launch vehicle project started in 2010 and its preliminary design is under progress as of now 2014. KAI is currently doing jobs such as manufacturing the engines of the vehicle and prototypes of its electronic and guided control products.

Also, KAI is manufacturing 10-plus kinds of its propulsion system for testing the engine and more of the developed vehicle and among them, the test equipment of the engine constituents, including the combustors and turbo pumps will be all completely finished within this year.

KAI is going to manufacture all test equipment until next year and completely solve difficulties caused by a lack of the local launch vehicle test equipment, thereby making every effort to develop a space launch vehicle in earnest.

For the successful promotion of the Korea space launch vehicle development, the ministry strives to combine all the forces and capabilities of experts from the industry, academia and research, including early participation of industries, securing of a stable budget and suggestion of a future vision.

In June last year, KAI built a joint design center for early transfer of its launch vehicle technologies to KARI and making an aggressive use of the manpower of industries. Also, KAI conducted regularly meetings with the project-participating companies to seek its improvements.

Last year, KAI secured a planned budget of 146.7 billion won, as the result of the government's 2013 supplementary budget compilation and in 2014 secured 235. billion won, an increase of 60% from the previous year, continuing to try to secure a stable budget.

The mid-& long-term space development plan, a space technology industrialization strategy and an early development plan of the Korea space launch vehicle which KAI suggested to the National Commission on Space were approved and fixed last year and as a consequence, the government struggles to induce the participation of industries and put together forces and capabilities of all levels of society, more than anything else.

Via the choice of KAI as the space launch vehicle's total system assembly firm, the ministry will further reinforce the capabilities of industries in the launch vehicle field and transfer the core technologies of the vehicle to industries at an early date, spurring the formation of Korea's space industry's ecosystem in the future.

From a long-term perspective, the Korean government plans to continuously seek an activation of its creative economy via the "incubation of the space launch vehicle-specific companies" which are able to penetrate into the world market and "the spin-off to other industries of the technology" secured from the development of the launch vehicle.

Korean Aerospace Industries
 
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