Government to Relaunch 1.5 Trillion Won Nuriho Upgrade Project After 'Preliminary Feasibility Study Failure'

Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT Reveals at First Press Briefing on the 5th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government is reinitiating the first Korean-type launch vehicle Nuriho upgrade project, which recently failed the preliminary feasibility study.

On the morning of the 5th, Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT held her first press briefing since taking office at the Ministry's building in Sejong City. In response to a question regarding the recent exclusive report by Asia Economy about the failure of the Nuriho upgrade project to pass the preliminary feasibility study, she stated, "The revision of missile guidelines, which was one of the agreements from the Korea-US summit, was not reflected, and it was criticized for lacking challenge." Minister Lim added, "I think we need to increase reliability, incorporate the changes in missile guidelines, raise the level of challenge, and push forward once again."

Previously, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Science and ICT submitted a performance improvement plan to increase Nuriho's payload capacity from the current 1.5 tons to over 2.8 tons and raise the maximum altitude from around 500-600 km to over 700 km by 2026, with a total budget of 1.5 trillion won. However, the plan received a "deferred" judgment at the end of last month during the preliminary feasibility review. Only about 600 billion won for repeated launches (an additional 4 rockets) was approved.

It was pointed out that the lifting of the solid-fuel missile range restriction, resulting from the Korea-US summit on the 21st of last month, was not reflected. Although the development of a solid-fuel booster capable of dramatically increasing Nuriho's payload capacity and maximum altitude became possible, the upgrade project plan submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT was prepared before this change and thus did not include it.

Some reviewers suggested that to significantly improve Nuriho's performance and technology, which is at a "beginner" level compared to advanced countries, more challenging goals should be pursued. Currently, Nuriho was developed using kerosene fuel and combustion methods (open gas generator cycle) from the 1950s Soviet Union. It was pointed out that it is necessary to switch to advanced methods such as reusable liquid methane engines like those used by NASA's space shuttle or SpaceX's Falcon 9, develop control devices using advanced computers and sensors, develop thrust control devices, and improve combustion methods (staged combustion cycle). The advice was to set goals approaching the cutting-edge space launch vehicle technologies being developed by the US, Europe, and Japan and begin upgrades accordingly.

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in pledged in March, after observing the comprehensive combustion test of Nuriho's first stage, to conduct lunar exploration (lander) using a Korean-type launch vehicle by 2030. Accordingly, it is pointed out that the Nuriho upgrade project should be completed by at least 2027-2028. However, concerns about setbacks have arisen due to the failure of the preliminary feasibility study at the end of last month.

Minister Lim also reaffirmed her intention to actively promote space development cooperation agreed upon during the Korea-US summit on the same day. She said, "With the signing of the Artemis agreement, we can now pursue more challenging exploration programs such as lunar orbiters," and added, "We will make good use of this opportunity to steadily implement strategies to advance the space industry to the next level." Regarding this, a Ministry of Science and ICT official explained, "We are discussing specific details with the US on the direction of implementing the Artemis agreement," and "Currently, about 34 billion won is expected to be included in next year's budget proposal."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.