The Korea Aerospace Administration plans to raise the launch reliability of Korea’s homegrown launch vehicle from about 80 percent to more than 90 percent. It will develop a reusable next-generation launch vehicle to cut development costs and speed up mass satellite production.

Tae-seok Oh (오태석), administrator of the Korea Aerospace Administration, stressed at a parliamentary audit of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on Oct. 13 that the agency will shift its policy focus from research and development to industrial promotion and build a private-led aerospace industry ecosystem.

Oh reviewed the successful fourth Nuri launch last year and the fifth launch on Oct. 7, signalling a push to secure rocket reliability. He said the agency will raise launch reliability from about 80 percent to more than 90 percent through repeated Nuri launches.

The agency also aims to lower launch costs by developing a reusable next-generation launch vehicle. It will support private-sector development of small and mid-sized launch vehicles and build a foundation for mass production of constellation satellites. It will also support companies in non-space sectors such as semiconductors and materials in entering the space market.

The agency plans to build a Korean low-Earth-orbit satellite communications network by 2035 to secure an independent communications network that can be used in emergencies such as disasters. It will also expand space exploration. It plans to pursue the launch of a lunar-orbit communications satellite in 2029 and a small lunar lander in 2030, and to secure leading technologies by 2032 for an independent lunar landing.

In aviation, it will join public-private efforts to develop a next-generation civilian aircraft to support the global expansion of domestic companies. It also plans to push ahead in earnest with the development of a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

Oh said he would make aerospace a national future strategic industry and open the era of K-Space.