Source: Global Times [Global Times special correspondent in South Korea Liu Haisheng, Global Times reporter Fan Wei] With the smooth launch of South Korea's "World" carrier rocket on the 21st, the South Korean media was full of jubilation. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo even proudly d

Source: Global Times

[Global Times special correspondent in South Korea Liu Haisheng Global Times reporter Fan Wei] With the smooth launch of South Korea's "World" carrier rocket 21, the Korean media was full of jubilation. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo even proudly declared, "This successful launch proves that South Korea is the seventh aerospace power in the world that can launch practical satellites."

"The sky in South Korea suddenly opened up"

Yonhap News Agency reported on June 21 that South Korea's first self-developed carrier rocket "World" lifted off at 4 pm that day at the Na Lao Space Center in Gaoke County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. After flying for about 13 minutes, the rocket sent the 180-kg main payload PVSAT satellite, simulation payload and four "CubeSat" satellites into a predetermined sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers. The launch mission was a success.

South Korea's "Chosun Ilbo" stated on the 21st that there were previously a total of 9 countries or organizations in the world with independent satellite launch capabilities: Russia, the United States, the European Union , China, Japan, India, Israel, Iran , and North Korea. Among them, only the first six can launch practical satellites weighing more than 1 ton into space. Israel, Iran and North Korea can only launch satellites weighing less than 300 kilograms into space. With the complete success of the launch of "World", South Korea has become the seventh space country in the world to launch practical satellites into space.

At the press conference announcing the success of the "World" launch mission, South Korea's Minister of Science, Technology, Information and Communications Lee Jong-ho said, "Today ushered in a landmark moment in the field of science and technology and history in South Korea. The sky in South Korea suddenly opened up. Science and technology have made great progress."

Before this success, South Korea's aerospace journey was tortuous. The "Naro" rocket, which South Korea initially purchased and assembled from Russian technology, failed to launch twice in a row, and it was not until the last time that it was successfully launched. Since then, South Korea has shifted its focus to independently developing rockets. At 4 pm on October 21, 2021, when the "purely domestic" "World" made its first attempt to launch into orbit, due to the early shutdown of the third-stage engine, it failed to send the 1.5-ton simulated load into the predetermined orbit. The launch suffered a failure.

Subsequently, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute formed an investigation committee and finally confirmed that the cause of the accident was "the unreasonable structural design of the rocket." After improvements, the "World" was put back on the launch pad, but its second launch was postponed twice due to data anomalies in the liquid oxygen tank and strong windy weather.

How is the performance of the "World"?

Regarding South Korea's major breakthrough in the aerospace field, Chinese aerodynamicist and aerospace technology expert Huang Zhicheng said in an interview with a reporter from the " Global Times " on the 21st that the "World" The first launch was successful. South Korea can be said to have mobilized the whole country, mobilized dozens of companies, and spent a lot of money.

According to the parameters announced by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the "World" is a three-stage structure liquid launch vehicle with a total arrow length of about 46.5 meters. The first stage is connected in parallel with four 75-ton KRE-75 liquid oxygen kerosene engines, and the second stage uses 1 It has a 75-ton KRE-075 engine, and the third stage is a 7-ton KRE-007 engine, which can send a load of 1.5 tons into a low-Earth orbit of 600-800 kilometers. Huang Zhicheng said that the overall technical capabilities of the "World" rocket are not strong. 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 only 261.7 seconds at sea level, which limits the overall performance of the rocket. The "World" rocket has a carrying capacity of 2.6 tons in low-Earth orbit and 1.5 tons in sun-synchronous orbit. Huang Zhicheng believes that the overall performance of the "World" rocket is better than 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 types of rockets in China have been retired. "The commercial rockets developed by some private aerospace companies in China have slightly better transport capacity than 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 transport capacity as the World rocket. on top of the rocket."

South Korean rocket aims at the moon next

South Korea's Nueces News Agency said on the 21st that the successful launch of "World" shows that South Korea has all the "industry, academia and research" capabilities for space launches. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute is responsible for the core of the "World" rocket In terms of technology development and infrastructure construction such as launch sites, a large number of Korean heavyweight companies have participated in the development of rocket core components and subsystems, the assembly of launch vehicles, etc.

South Korea's "Asia Economy" outlook on the 21st said that the "world using liquid fuel" After the successful launch of ", the South Korean military will conduct solid fuel rocket tests, hoping to simultaneously promote the launch of reconnaissance satellites, missile technology advancement and space exploration. After the United States lifted the ban on South Korean missile ranges in May 2021, the South Korean military Immediately start developing solid fuel propelled rockets for launching reconnaissance satellites. North Korea's preparation time for launching liquid fuel ballistic missiles is about one hour, while South Korea's preparation time for launching solid fuel ballistic missiles is only 20 to 30 minutes. In the future, South Korea's reconnaissance satellites Once all are in place, sensitive areas such as North Korean missile sites can be monitored at intervals of 10-20 minutes, and early warning and countermeasure capabilities will be greatly increased.

"The World" will make South Korea a space power, and it will be 2031 before South Korea lands on the moon. It is also getting closer." South Korea's "Daily Business" reported excitedly on the 21st that South Korea's new generation launch vehicle will have a 1.8-ton lunar orbit delivery capability and is preparing to send a lunar rover to the moon in 2031.

Related links : Revealing the mystery of the Korean Space Center

The Naro Space Center is the only space launch site in South Korea. It is located on the Nalao Islands in Hexing County, South Jeolla Province in the south. It is currently managed and operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. South Korea was the first to decide to build its own The space launch site was established after South Korea passed the "National Space Development Medium and Long-term Plan (1996-2015)". At that time, considering the flight trajectory and the area where the rocket debris might fall after separation, launching rockets in the direction of China and Japan was first ruled out. In After a review by experts, Daejeong-eup in Seogwipo City, Jeju Island, scored the highest. However, due to strong opposition from the local government and residents at the time, Wairao Island, Gaoke County, South Jeolla Province, was finally determined to be the construction site of the Korea Space Center.

The Korean Space Center started construction in August 2003. It was actually built through technical cooperation with Russia in the initial stage. It covers an area of ​​5.06 million square meters and a total investment of 265 billion won. It was finally completed in June 2009 and named Luo Lao Space Center.

At present, Luo Lao Space Center is not only capable of rocket launches, but also has a variety of aerospace infrastructure such as engine experimental equipment and satellite experimental buildings, launch assembly buildings, solid engine buildings, launch control centers, and optical equipment buildings. Luolao Space Center has both science popularization and sightseeing functions. A reporter from the "Global Times" once visited the Luolao Space Center. Just after entering the space center, there is the Space Science Museum and the attached square. Here you can increase your understanding of aerospace knowledge and see the introduction of the Luolao Space Center. In April 2011, 4D imaging equipment was built here, attracting tens of thousands of tourists every year. The Luolao Space Center Square at the entrance of the Space Science Museum is a certain distance from the rocket launch pad, and because of the obstruction of a small hill, the rocket launch cannot be directly seen. But before each rocket launch, the Korean media will set up a studio in the central square, where news anchors will introduce the situation and analyze and comment. Previously, there were a large number of Russian experts at the Na Lao Space Center, but now with the strengthening of South Korea's independent research and development efforts, Russian experts have become relatively rare.