Hanwha's 'Korean SpaceX' ambitions grow as work begins on reusable rocket test vehicle
The company aims to verify vertical takeoff and landing technologies by 2028 for future reusable launch vehicles.
A cross section of the test vehicle being built by Hanwha Aerospace and its collaborators
KOREA AEROSPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Hanwha Aerospace has started building a test vehicle designed to take off, climb and land back on its feet, an early step toward Korean-made reusable rockets.
The company said Wednesday it began final assembly of a reusable technology demonstrator under a project led by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Hanwha Aerospace is the system integrator, with local space companies Vitzro Nextech and Hanyang ENG also taking part.
The plan is to complete technology verification by 2028 and secure core reuse technologies similar to those behind SpaceX's Falcon 9, the U.S. company's main launch vehicle.
The demonstrator is 12.2 meters (40 feet) tall and 1.5 meters wide and will carry a single throttleable staged combustion cycle turbopump engine. In a flight test scheduled for 2028, it is to lift off vertically, reach an altitude of 500 meters within about 90 seconds and land vertically at a designated site.
Hanwha Aerospace will use the project to verify engine thrust control, attitude control, and guidance and control — prerequisites of reusable launch vehicles.
Reusability is seen as central to competing in the global space transportation market. SpaceX has reused Falcon 9 first-stage boosters dozens of times, significantly lowering launch costs per kilogram. The industry expects that reusing only the first stage — the bottom section of a rocket — can cut launch costs substantially.
Hanwha Aerospace aims to use the results as groundwork for reusing the first stage of Korea's next-generation launch vehicle, planned for the mid-2030s, and to speed up its entry into the global launch services market with more competitive pricing.
"Securing reusable launch vehicle technology is an essential task for growing into a 'Korean SpaceX,'" a Hanwha Aerospace official said. "We will successfully carry out this research with KARI and our partners and contribute to strengthening Korea's space transportation capabilities and growing the private space industry ecosystem."
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
