By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Korean scientists unveiled a locally developed spacecraft that could potentially be used for robotic exploration of the Moon, hailing it as an important moment in the country’s ambitious space program.
A team led by Kwon Se-jin, a professor of aerospace engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and engineers at local company, Space Solutions, revealed the lunar-lander, which is capable of carrying objects weighing around 20 kilograms to the lunar surface, Thursday.
The lander, 40 centimeters tall and weighing 25 kilograms, is equipped with a liquid-fuel rocket engine with a maximum thrust of 350 newtons (N).
Every part of the rocket engine, including the catalyst reactor, was homemade, Kwon said, and the rocket’s propulsion included a state-of-the-art propulsion valve developed by Space Solutions enabling thrust control. The engine’s design allows it to be powered by environmentally friendly fuel.
The lander, the result of a six year long effort, represents an advancement in technology for developing spacecraft for lunar missions, Kwon said.
According to Kwon, lunar modules between the 100 and 200 kilogram range, developed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) under the International Lunar Network (ILN) project costs around $100 million. The rocket engine created by his team could cut development costs to about half that, Kwon claimed.
“We have approached NASA over the possibilities of using our engine,” Kwon said, adding that his team is collaborating with other local scientists with the goal of landing a spacecraft on the moon by 2013.
“Lunar-landers are critical in developing lunar spacecraft, but advanced nations have been careful to protect their core technologies, so I think this is a big deal for us,” he said.
South Korea has been pushing an aggressive space program over the past decade, and objectives include having a man on the moon by 2020.
With the help of Russia’s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is planning to launch a satellite into orbit from the country’s brand new spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, during the first-half of next year.
A successful launch would make Korea the ninth country in the world to launch a satellite from its own soil.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology also secured commitment from NASA last month on helping the country to become more involved in international space research projects.
One of the immediate issues to be discussed is Korea’s potential participation in the ILN, a multinational project aiming to gradually place six to eight fixed or mobile science stations on the lunar surface. The stations will form a robotic network to replace the hardware left by the Apollo program to continue studies of the moon’s surface and interior.
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