A Korean SpaceX set to launch suborbital test rocket in Brazil

Innospace, a local space start-up, is scheduled to launch a technology demonstration rocket at 6 a.m., Tuesday, to the altitude of 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) in a suborbital test from Alcântara Launch Center in northern Brazil.

Innospace's Hanbit-TLV test rocket is being examined before the launch, which was rescheduled from Monday to Tuesday at the Alcantara Launch Center in northern Brazil. [INNOSPACE]

Korea's private-sector space business is about to take off, literally.

Innospace, a local space start-up, is scheduled to launch a technology demonstration rocket at 6 a.m., Tuesday, to the altitude of 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) in a suborbital test from Alcântara Launch Center in northern Brazil.

Hanbit-TLV, the test vehicle, is a 16.3-meter single-stage rocket designed to verify the performance of a 15-ton-thrust rocket engine developed by Innospace.

The Sejong-based company aims to develop Korea’s first private commercial satellite launcher, the Hanbit-Nano, with data collected from the test launch.

Hanbit-Nano will be a two-stage rocket equipped with a 15-ton-thrust hybrid engine, powered by solid fuel and liquid oxidizer.

Originally scheduled for 6 a.m., Monday, the test launch of the Hanbit-TLV rocket was delayed by a day due to unexpected rain and inclement weather.

Innospace said that the launch window is open until Wednesday.

“We’ve been searching for a test launch site since 2019, but there was no launch site open for the private sector in Korea,” said Kim Soo-jong, Innospace CEO during a June interview with JoongAng Ilbo.

“There was no relevant manual or guideline as well. That is why we contacted the Brazilian government, and got approval for the test launch at the year’s end.”

The area surrounding the launch site — Alcântara Launch Center — has a low population density and stable weather conditions. As the country is located near the equator, the spacecraft will need less fuel.

The company hopes to enter the commercial satellite launch service market with the Hanbit-Nano rocket by 2024.

The plan is to charge the customers 2 billion won ($1.5 million) per launch to carry a 50-kilogram small satellite into 500-kilometer orbit.

SpaceX charges its customers around $67 million per Falcon 9 rocket launch.

Korea’s space exploration used to be exclusively government-led projects in the so-called “old space” era. However, the focus is shifting toward a market-oriented approach both at home and abroad.

Amid the global transition toward the new space era, Korea wants its own SpaceX.

SpaceX is leading the new market-oriented space exploration trend with reusable satellite launchers.

In 2019, the private sector earned 79 percent of the global space revenues, according to The Space Foundation. Korea has been slow to follow the trend.

“Korea made some landmark achievements for the past 30 years in space development, with the successful launch of the domestically-developed Naro rocket, Nuri rocket and Danuri lunar orbiter,” said Lee Chang-jin, a space engineering professor at Konkuk University.

“But there is a lot to be desired in terms of generating space revenues from such hardware technologies,” said Lee, highlighting the importance of the private sector in catching up with the space powers and monetizing space technologies.

In Korea, the domestic space market volume shrank by 17 percent from 2017’s 4.15 trillion won to 3.43 trillion won in 2020.

The value-added ratio — which represents the profitability compared to the time spent adding value to a product — of space business is 48 percent, second only to 64 percent of the semiconductor industry.

Boosted by the fast-expanding private sector, global space revenue grew 14 percent to $447 billion in 2020 from $383.5 billion in 2017.

Korean companies have been making strides in recent years.

Hanwha Aerospace built the six engines used in Korea’s first domestically-developed launch vehicle, the Nuri rocket, which completed its test launch in June.

The company was selected by the Science Ministry for a launch vehicle technology transfer, and will run the 687.4-billion-won Korea Space Launch Vehicle Advancement Program to enhance the technological reliability of the Nuri rocket.

Hanwha Aerospace will develop a 100-ton-thrust engine for the KSLV-III rocket.

Smaller players are also following suit.

Satrec Initiative, which was founded in 1999 and is Korea’s only satellite exporter, recently developed an advanced electric propulsion system for small satellites with improved energy efficiency compared to the previous chemical propulsion system in collaboration with the Defense Industry Technology Center under the Defense Ministry.

Established in 2015, Nara Space Technology released a deep learning-based software service to improve the quality of low-resolution satellite images in the European market.

Using Nara Space’s technology, even a 3-meter-long object can be identified with a satellite image that can originally identify only objects larger than 10 meters.

Contec, founded in 2015, joined a government-led project to launch the “Jinju-Sat” spacecraft on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 mission rocket.

But the industry as a whole lacks infrastructure, falling far behind its overseas counterparts.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea had 389 space companies last year.

Of the companies, only 53.2 percent have a research facility dedicated to a space-related project.

Lack of human resources is also a major obstacle. The average number of employees at the local space companies stood at 16.2, but the companies are expected to need 1,360 new employees in the next five years.

The Yoon Suk-yeol government is eager to encourage private participation in space exploration.

The government aims double the space development budget in the next five years to boost space-related projects and draw at least 100 trillion won of investments to the space sector by 2045. A space agency to spearhead government-led space programs will be established next year under the Science Ministry as well.

“The new space agency should be established and operate directly under the presidential office, while focusing on serving a purpose that does not overlap with the previous space-related institutes’ roles,” argued Chang Young-keun, an aerospace engineering professor at Korea Aerospace University.

Creating an industry ecosystem where companies can make more active investments is important.

“In the new space era, an agile decision-making process is the key, and therefore start-ups should play a crucial role,” said An Hyoung-joon, a researcher at Science & Technology Policy Institute.

“But Korea is not making sufficient investments in space-related start-ups, and the number of said start-ups is also too small,” said An.

Only seven domestic space start-ups attracted investments so far.

“The space industry normally takes time for the investment to turn into profits, which makes it less attractive for venture capital,” said a top executive at a venture investment company who wished to remain anonymous.

BY LEE CHANG-KYUN, SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]