South Korea successfully launches home-grown Nuri space rocket after failed attempt last year

[Nan Yang]

Congratulations. The NURI is capable to put 1500 kg into a 700 km sun-syncronous orbit.

South Korea successfully launches home-grown Nuri space rocket after failed attempt last year

• South Korea became the seventh country in the world to put a satellite weighing more than a tonne into orbit in a boost for its space ambitions
• It also aims to launch four more Nuri rockets over the next five years and land a probe on the Moon by 2030

Park Chan-kyong
Published: 6:54pm, 21 Jun, 2022

South Korea’s Nuri rocket lifts off from a launch pad at the Naro Space Centre in Goheung on Tuesday. Photo: KARI/AP

South Korea’s domestically built Nuri rocket successfully placed a payload into orbit on Tuesday, boosting its efforts to catch up with advanced countries in space development after a first test failed last year.

The three-stage Nuri rocket, emblazoned with a national flag, lifted off from the Naro Space Centre on a small island off the country’s southern coast at 4pm (local time).

After flying 14 minutes to reach an altitude of 700 kilometres, it put a “performance verification” satellite into orbit, the science ministry said.

“The launch of the Korea-developed space vehicle Nuri was successful,” Science Minister Lee Jong-ho said at a press conference.

“We’ve written a new chapter in the country’s history of science and technology.”

In the first attempt last October, Nuri reached its desired altitude of 700 kilometres but failed to put a dummy payload into orbit because the engine of the rocket’s third stage burned out earlier than planned.

South Korea is now the seventh country in the world to place a satellite weighing more than a tonne into orbit, joining the United States, Russia, China, Japan, European Space Agency and India.

With Tuesday’s launch, it also became the world’s 10th nation to put a payload into space with its own technology.

“This is a significant step forward in South Korea’s efforts to develop space technology that corresponds to its overall industrial power,” Lee Choon-geun, an honorary research fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, said.

Lee added Seoul is likely to have “competitive edges in placing small satellites in low orbits” although other developed countries had the upper hand in launching more powerful, reusable vehicles.

South Koreans watch the Nuri rocket launch in Goheung. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

He said South Korea aims to launch four more Nuri rockets over the next five years to enhance stability of this type of vehicle while seeking to develop a more powerful launch vehicle by 2030 that could be used for reaching the moon.

The lift-off also proved the country has key technologies to build a space-based surveillance system and bigger missiles amid animosities with rival North Korea, some experts say.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016 though there is no proof that either one has ever transmitted spaced-based imagery and data back home.

Those North Korean launches invited United Nations economic sanctions because they were viewed as covers for testing the country’s banned long-range missile technology.

Since the early 1990s, South Korea has sent a slew of satellites into space, but all from overseas launch sites or aboard a rocket built with the help of foreign technology.

South Korea is now the seventh country in the world to place a satellite weighing more than a tonne into orbit. Photo: KARI/AFP

South Korean officials said the Nuri rocket has no military purposes.

The transfer of space launch technology is strictly restricted under a multilateral export control regime because it has military applications.

Experts say ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles share similar bodies, engines and other components, though missiles require a re-entry vehicle and other technologies.

“If you put a satellite on the top of a rocket, it would become a space launch vehicle. But if you mount a warhead on it, it becomes a weapon,” said Kwon Yong-soo, a former professor at Korea National Defence University in South Korea.

But research fellow Lee said it’s difficult to directly use Nuri as a missile because it uses liquid fuels that must be kept at an extremely low temperature and require much longer fuelling time than solid fuels.

He said North Korean long-range missiles also use liquid fuels, but extremely toxic ones that are maintained at ordinary temperatures and need faster fuelling time than Nuri’s.

This year, North Korea has test-launched about 30 missiles with potential ranges that place the US mainland and its regional allies like South Korea and Japan within striking distance.

Kwon said Nuri’s successful Nuri launch would prove that South Korea also has the capability to send a spy satellite into orbit.

Seoul currently has no military reconnaissance satellites of its own and depends on US spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in the North.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

 

[Nan Yang]

South Korea launches homegrown Nuri rocket in major space milestone

by Thomas Maresca
Goheung, South Korea (UPI) Jun 21, 2022

​

The launch Tuesday was the second attempt to deploy a satellite using the Nuri rocket, after a failed effort in October. Photo courtesy of the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

South Korea successfully launched its first homegrown rocket on Tuesday, deploying a satellite into low-Earth orbit in a major milestone as the country jumps into the space race with both commercial and military implications.

The three-stage Nuri rocket blasted off from the Naro Space Center in the southern coastal town of Goheung on Tuesday afternoon. It reached its target altitude of 435 miles and released a 360-pound performance verification satellite as well as a 1.3-ton dummy satellite, South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said.

"Today is a very monumental day in South Korean history," science minister Lee Jong-ho said at a press briefing after the launch. "The sky has opened up for us and we made a great step forward in space exploration."

With the launch, South Korea became the tenth country to send a satellite into space with its own technology. It is the seventh country to develop a space launch vehicle that can carry a satellite of more than 1 ton, following the United States, China, Japan, France, Russia and India.

"It is meaningful that we don't have to borrow other nation's rockets anymore," Lee added. "We can do it on our own. [Today's launch] will become a stepping stone to the next space era."

Directly outside of the space center, dozens of spectators found spots among the rocky coastline to take in the spectacle, cheering loudly as the rocket rumbled and then appeared from behind a low mountain before climbing into a bright blue sky.

The launch was the second liftoff for the 2-ton Nuri rocket, also known as the Korean Space Launch Vehicle II, after a mission in October failed to successfully deliver a dummy satellite. South Korea has spent more than $1.5 billion developing Nuri since 2010 and has four more launches scheduled through 2027.

Lee Sang-ryool, head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said after the launch that all phases proceeded normally and that satellites were deployed at "exactly the intended altitude and speed."

KARI confirmed that the satellite successfully communicated with a South Korean research station in Antarctica roughly 40 minutes after launch.

Tuesday's accomplishment was not just a technical exercise. Seoul has prioritized space technology as a growth industry and the government has laid out a roadmap to deploy next-generation communications and navigation satellites. The science ministry has said it will transfer launch vehicle technologies to the private sector to help spur development.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol praised Tuesday's successful launch and said "the dreams and hopes of the Korean people now extend into space." In a video call with researchers, Yoon vowed to create an aerospace agency to further develop the industry.

The country is also looking to space to bolster its defense capabilities amid a growing arms race on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea has previously relied on the U.S. military to monitor the North, but Seoul has signed a contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch five spy satellites by 2025, with the first launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2023. Much of the activity in South Korea's space sector comes on the heels of an agreement with the United States last year to end decades-long restrictions on Seoul's missile development.

The restrictions, which were first introduced in 1979, originally limited South Korea-developed rockets to a flight range of around 110 miles and a payload of 1100 pounds. The guidelines were revised multiple times over the years until they were finally lifted in May 2021 during a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

While North Korea has stayed in the spotlight with a flurry of weapons tests since the beginning of 2022, South Korea has shown off military hardware of its own, including a submarine-launched ballistic missile and a supersonic cruise missile.

In March, the military successfully tested its first home-produced solid fuel rocket, a boost to its space-based defense capabilities.

South Korea's space ambitions also extend to the moon. The country is scheduled to launch its first lunar orbiter in August aboard a SpaceX rocket, and is aiming to send a landing module to the moon using South Korean rockets by 2031.

 

[REhorror]

Vietnam needs to keep up!

 

[silverox]

Huang Zhicheng, a Chinese aerodynamicist and aerospace technology expert, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 21st that the launch of the "World" was successful. South Korea can be said to use the power of the whole country, using dozens of companies, and spending a lot of money. However, the overall technical capability of the "World" rocket is not strong.
The overall performance of the "World" rocket is better than that of the Long March 1 rocket that launched my country's first artificial satellite, but lower than the level of the Long March 2 carrier rocket. At present, both Chinese rockets have been retired.
For example, the specific impulse of the KRE-75 liquid oxygen kerosene engine used in its first-stage rocket is not very high, only 298 seconds in a vacuum environment and 261.7 seconds at sea level, which limits the overall performance of the rocket.
"The capacity of commercial rockets developed by some private aerospace companies in China is also slightly better than that of the 'World' rocket, such as Galaxy Power's Pallas-1 rocket and Blue Arrow Aerospace's Suzaku-2 rocket, both of which have the same above capacity as the 'World' rocket."

 

[Nan Yang]

Huang Zhicheng, a Chinese aerodynamicist and aerospace technology expert, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 21st that the launch of the "World" was successful. South Korea can be said to use the power of the whole country, using dozens of companies, and spending a lot of money. However, the overall technical capability of the "World" rocket is not strong.
The overall performance of the "World" rocket is better than that of the Long March 1 rocket that launched my country's first artificial satellite, but lower than the level of the Long March 2 carrier rocket. At present, both Chinese rockets have been retired.
For example, the specific impulse of the KRE-75 liquid oxygen kerosene engine used in its first-stage rocket is not very high, only 298 seconds in a vacuum environment and 261.7 seconds at sea level, which limits the overall performance of the rocket.
"The capacity of commercial rockets developed by some private aerospace companies in China is also slightly better than that of the 'World' rocket, such as Galaxy Power's Pallas-1 rocket and Blue Arrow Aerospace's Suzaku-2 rocket, both of which have the same above capacity as the 'World' rocket."

But when compared with launcher that are actually active, the NURI is equivalent to India's PSLV.
The PSLV-XL with 6 boosters attached can put a payload of 1,750kg in SSO versus 1,500kg for the NURI. Not bad for a small country.

And PSLV is far from being retired. It's a workhorse for India.

 

[MH.Yang]

I have been telling everyone that you overestimate Japan and underestimate South Korea. In ten years, you will see the end.
Japan will certainly become the country and region with the lowest per capita income in East Asia except North Korea before 2040.
By 2030, Japan's per capita GDP will be surpassed by South Korea and Taiwan.

 

[REhorror]

I have been telling everyone that you overestimate Japan and underestimate South Korea. In ten years, you will see the end.
Japan will certainly become the country and region with the lowest per capita income in East Asia except North Korea before 2040.
By 2030, Japan's per capita GDP will be surpassed by South Korea and Taiwan.

I prefer Japanese culture and products to Korean but I have to agree.
Japan's development is held back by right wing anti-Asia forces or specifically the Abe family (Shinzo Abe and his brother Kishi).
Until Japan politics develop and oust these persons, Japan can never regain the development.

 

[MH.Yang]

I prefer Japanese culture and products to Korean but I have to agree.
Japan's development is held back by right wing anti-Asia forces or specifically the Abe family (Shinzo Abe and his brother Kishi).
Until Japan politics develop and oust these persons, Japan can never regain the development.

Japan has a large population but poor resources. From food to raw materials, they rely on other countries for supply. So the Japanese economy is heavily dependent on the surplus brought about by exports.

However, all the household appliances and other industries that Japan once owned have been occupied by China.

In recent years, Japan is extremely dependent on the automobile industry. However, Japan made a wrong choice in the new energy vehicle industry. They chose hydrogen energy batteries instead of lithium batteries. As China and the USA have closed their doors to hydrogen energy batteries, the Japanese automobile industry has inevitably gone to death.

Now the new energy vehicles belong to an American tiger (Tesla) and a group of Chinese wolves (BYD, Wuling, Weilai, Xiaopeng, Geely, great wall, etc.).
Now Japan has had a trade deficit for 10 consecutive months, and the trade deficit is getting larger and larger.
At the same time, China's automobile exports this year have surpassed South Korea and are close to Japan. So the yen has inevitably entered the depreciation channel. Moreover, the Japanese govt has too much debt. The Japanese govt simply does not dare to raise interest rates to protect the yen exchange rate. The depreciation of the yen will only make the trade deficit larger, and the Japanese are about to meet unprecedented huge inflation. Japan's economy has entered a death spiral, and no govt can save it.

 

[REhorror]

Japan has a large population but poor resources. From food to raw materials, they rely on other countries for supply. So the Japanese economy is heavily dependent on the surplus brought about by exports.

However, all the household appliances and other industries that Japan once owned have been occupied by China.

In recent years, Japan is extremely dependent on the automobile industry. However, Japan made a wrong choice in the new energy vehicle industry. They chose hydrogen energy batteries instead of lithium batteries. As China and the USA have closed their doors to hydrogen energy batteries, the Japanese automobile industry has inevitably gone to death.

Now the new energy vehicles belong to an American tiger (Tesla) and a group of Chinese wolves (BYD, Wuling, Weilai, Xiaopeng, Geely, great wall, etc.).
Now Japan has had a trade deficit for 10 consecutive months, and the trade deficit is getting larger and larger.
At the same time, China's automobile exports this year have surpassed South Korea and are close to Japan. So the yen has inevitably entered the depreciation channel. Moreover, the Japanese govt has too much debt. The Japanese govt simply does not dare to raise interest rates to protect the yen exchange rate. The depreciation of the yen will only make the trade deficit larger, and the Japanese are about to meet unprecedented huge inflation. Japan's economy has entered a death spiral, and no govt can save it.

What can they do to fix it is simple:
1. Abolish the consumption tax to increase consumption.
2. Increase corporate tax to make up for loss of consumption tax.
3. Force companies to abolish overtime and increase minimum wage.
4. Issue govt bond to increase R&D into progressive technology like EV, recyclable energy and modernized nuclear plant.
5. Use decreased yen to rebuild factories in Japan.

Japan's Nissan and Mitsubishi can still make great EVs, the issue is Toyota, the leading company, has an outdated mindset, but Toyota is politically connected.
In fact, all these policies are already in proposal stage, the issue is right wing like Abe wants to increase tax and put more money into "defense" i.e. buying outdated american weapons instead.

The issue with Japan is again, politics, notice the decline of Japan starts significantly around the times Koizumi/Abe takes power.

 

[silverox]

Japan has a large population but poor resources. From food to raw materials, they rely on other countries for supply. So the Japanese economy is heavily dependent on the surplus brought about by exports.

However, all the household appliances and other industries that Japan once owned have been occupied by China.

In recent years, Japan is extremely dependent on the automobile industry. However, Japan made a wrong choice in the new energy vehicle industry. They chose hydrogen energy batteries instead of lithium batteries. As China and the USA have closed their doors to hydrogen energy batteries, the Japanese automobile industry has inevitably gone to death.

Now the new energy vehicles belong to an American tiger (Tesla) and a group of Chinese wolves (BYD, Wuling, Weilai, Xiaopeng, Geely, great wall, etc.).
Now Japan has had a trade deficit for 10 consecutive months, and the trade deficit is getting larger and larger.
At the same time, China's automobile exports this year have surpassed South Korea and are close to Japan. So the yen has inevitably entered the depreciation channel. Moreover, the Japanese govt has too much debt. The Japanese govt simply does not dare to raise interest rates to protect the yen exchange rate. The depreciation of the yen will only make the trade deficit larger, and the Japanese are about to meet unprecedented huge inflation. Japan's economy has entered a death spiral, and no govt can save it.

Japan's investment in hydrogen energy is very early. As early as the 1970s, when the first oil crisis began, Japan began to study hydrogen energy. By the early 21st century, almost all patented technologies were mastered by the Japanese, and the Japanese were in business. Its characteristics are extreme greed and selfishness. They want to hold all the technical patents of the industry chain in their own hands. The Japanese just want to eat all the meat by themselves, and leave no food residue for others.
Under such circumstances, the United States, China, and Europe have tacitly abandoned the development of hydrogen energy vehicles. Just like the Soviet Union gave up transistors when it had an advantage in tubes, the Soviet Union got the wrong tech tree. Japan's advantage in hydrogen energy research has made the world abandon hydrogen energy vehicles.
Of course, as a technical reserve, countries around the world have not given up research on hydrogen energy.

 

[REhorror]

Japan's investment in hydrogen energy is very early. As early as the 1970s, when the first oil crisis began, Japan began to study hydrogen energy. By the early 21st century, almost all patented technologies were mastered by the Japanese, and the Japanese were in business. Its characteristics are extreme greed and selfishness. They want to hold all the technical patents of the industry chain in their own hands. The Japanese just want to eat all the meat by themselves, and leave no food residue for others.
Under such circumstances, the United States, China, and Europe have tacitly abandoned the development of hydrogen energy vehicles. Just like the Soviet Union gave up transistors when it had an advantage in tubes, the Soviet Union got the wrong tech tree. Japan's advantage in hydrogen energy research has made the world abandon hydrogen energy vehicles.
Of course, as a technical reserve, countries around the world have not given up research on hydrogen energy.

Japan was actually the first country in mass production of EVs in the form of Nissan Leaf, but after Tohoku Earthquake, the govt decisively forces all car companies to go hydrogen instead of advancing into EVs.
This was similar to the smartphone where Sony and Fujitsu were making more advanced phones than Apple but refuse to market it like iPhone.

Again, another political setback.

 

[silverox]

Japan was actually the first country in mass production of EVs in the form of Nissan Leaf, but after Tohoku Earthquake, the govt decisively forces all car companies to go hydrogen instead of advancing into EVs.
This was similar to the smartphone where Sony and Fujitsu were making more advanced phones than Apple but refuse to market it like iPhone.

Again, another political setback.

I know that Japan started producing so-called hybrid vehicles as early as 1999, which was in line with the trend of environmental protection topics that were popular in the West, especially the United States. Many Westerners, especially Americans who advertised themselves as progressives with environmental protection concepts, bought Japanese hybrid vehicles. powered car.
But IMHO, that car is not really environmentally friendly at all, nor does it really use electricity as an energy source, it's just a business gimmick.
I recently saw a news that a Chinese battery manufacturer has recently developed a battery that can last a car up to 1,000 kilometers. If this effect can be achieved, all-electric vehicles will replace oil vehicles on a large scale within ten years, at least in China, where energy is scarce.

 

[REhorror]

I know that Japan started producing so-called hybrid vehicles as early as 1999, which was in line with the trend of environmental protection topics that were popular in the West, especially the United States. Many Westerners, especially Americans who advertised themselves as progressives with environmental protection concepts, bought Japanese hybrid vehicles. powered car.
But IMHO, that car is not really environmentally friendly at all, nor does it really use electricity as an energy source, it's just a business gimmick.
I recently saw a news that a Chinese battery manufacturer has recently developed a battery that can last a car up to 1,000 kilometers. If this effect can be achieved, all-electric vehicles will replace oil vehicles on a large scale within ten years, at least in China, where energy is scarce.

The advantage of China having infrastructure, factories and materials to build batteries cannot be overstated, it's a crucial advantage over Japan.
At best, Japan still has to buy materials from China unless they can secure better sources in Australia or S. America.

Still, my point is that the Japan's potential is always there, the issue is it's held up by right wing political force, and this is crucial since one family has held up Japan for nearly 20 years.

 

[silverox]

The advantage of China having infrastructure, factories and materials to build batteries cannot be overstated, it's a crucial advantage over Japan.
At best, Japan still has to buy materials from China unless they can secure better sources in Australia or S. America.

Still, my point is that the Japan's potential is always there, the issue is it's held up by right wing political force, and this is crucial since one family has held up Japan for nearly 20 years.

The Japanese have begun to flaunt values diplomacy in recent years, and the Japanese boast that their values are consistent with those of Western democracies.
In fact, the Japanese concept of democracy and freedom is very different from that of Europe. For the Japanese, it is just a slogan to gain the recognition of Western society. Just look at the Japanese corporate culture and work environment to know that Japan is not at all a liberal democracy in the Western sense.
Japan's hereditary politics is actually similar to that of South Asian countries. The children of politicians are all politicians, and China also has this phenomenon. It seems that South Korea is doing the best, and above all, when it comes to political democracy, South Korea is like a real democracy

 

[MH.Yang]

What can they do to fix it is simple:
1. Abolish the consumption tax to increase consumption.
2. Increase corporate tax to make up for loss of consumption tax.
3. Force companies to abolish overtime and increase minimum wage.
4. Issue govt bond to increase R&D into progressive technology like EV, recyclable energy and modernized nuclear plant.
5. Use decreased yen to rebuild factories in Japan.

Japan's Nissan and Mitsubishi can still make great EVs, the issue is Toyota, the leading company, has an outdated mindset, but Toyota is politically connected.
In fact, all these policies are already in proposal stage, the issue is right wing like Abe wants to increase tax and put more money into "defense" i.e. buying outdated american weapons instead.

The issue with Japan is again, politics, notice the decline of Japan starts significantly around the times Koizumi/Abe takes power.

I have never seen any country recapture the market eaten by Chinese enterprises, and the same is true of new energy vehicles.

The Japanese govt will certainly implement the measures you said, and the Japanese economy will eventually stop falling. But that must be after the yen depreciated by more than 40%. Japan's per capita GDP will drop to between $20000 and $30000. At this time, Japan will be the country with the lowest per capita GDP in East Asia except North Korea. And they will rely heavily on China's industrial chain.

Now the biggest trouble for the Japanese is not only from Japan and China. Now American hedge funds have shown their teeth to the yen, and the USA is ready to eat this ally to make up for its broken economy.