Former KARI chief to join Hanwha, lead private sector space race

Cho Kwang-rae.

Cho Kwang-rae, former head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and a pioneer in the development of Naro-1, South Korea’s first space launch vehicle, is set to transfer his expertise to Hanwha. The South Korean conglomerate is poised to take over the core technology for Nuri, the country’s fully indigenous launch vehicle, and Cho is expected to play a pivotal role in the transition.

According to sources on Monday, Cho is scheduled to move to Hanwha Aerospace. The two parties have reached an agreement and are currently ironing out details, including salary. Cho is widely regarded as one of South Korea’s foremost experts in space launch technology.

Born in 1956, Cho earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electronic engineering from Dongguk University. He joined the Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute, then part of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), in 1988 and has been working on space launch vehicles since KARI’s founding in 1989.

Cho achieved a significant milestone in 1990 by developing South Korea’s first solid-fuel rocket, the KSR-1. He went on to hold various key positions in the space sector, including head of the space launch vehicle division and head of the space launch vehicle research center from 2001 to 2013, as well as head of the Naro launch vehicle propulsion team.

From October 2014 to November 2017, he served as KARI’s tenth president. He subsequently supported the development of Nuri, the successor launch vehicle to Naro, as a senior researcher.

Cho is expected to have a pivotal intermediary role in nurturing South Korea’s space industry, with the government designating Hanwha Aerospace the winning bidder for its “Nuri Enhancement Project” in October 2022. In collaboration with KARI, the company will now manufacture and launch three Nuri rockets through 2027, taking over technology from the design and production to assembly and launch operations. Cho is expected to contribute to the smooth transfer of technology and expertise during the process.

Under South Korea’s Code of Conduct for Public Officials, government officials are generally prohibited from working for organizations closely related to the department or institution they were affiliated with for three years after retirement. However, it has reportedly been determined that Cho’s move to Hanwha Aerospace does not violate this employment restriction.