Development of Korea-style Lunar Exploration Unmanned Rover to Begin in Earnest

On the 27th, 5 Government-Funded Research Institutes, Hyundai Kia Motors, and the Korea Automotive Technology Institute Signed a Business Agreement
Starting as Early as August, Development of an Exploration Rover to Land on the Moon by 2030 Begins

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The public, private, and research sectors are joining forces for South Korea's planned lunar landing exploration in 2030.

On the afternoon of the 27th, five government-funded research institutes?Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute?signed a joint research agreement with Hyundai Kia Motors R&D Headquarters and Korea Automotive Technology Institute at a hotel in Daejeon to develop unmanned lunar surface exploration mobility.

The consortium aims for a successful unmanned lunar surface exploration mission by mutually exchanging and cooperating in areas including ▲robot development, including robotics labs ▲software and hardware design for scientific exploration equipment and operation ▲space environment response ▲special equipment for mission execution. The consortium is expected to commence full-scale joint research as early as August.

On July 27, 2022, at 2 PM, a joint research agreement signing ceremony was held at Lotte City Hotel Daejeon for the development of unmanned lunar surface exploration mobility. From the left: Park Young-deuk, Director of Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute; Park Jong-hyun, Vice President of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute; Kim Hyun-jun, Vice President of Research at Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology; Park Jung-guk, Head of R&D at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia; Lee Sang-ryul, President of Korea Aerospace Research Institute; Jung Ji-young, Vice President of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute; Lim Kwang-hoon, Head of Management Support Division at Korea Automotive Technology Institute.

Meanwhile, on the evening of the 2nd next month (morning of the 3rd Korean time), South Korea plans to launch its first lunar exploration orbiter, 'Danuri,' into space aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from the U.S. Space Force base at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Danuri will enter a 100 km lunar orbit by the end of this year and orbit the moon for one year, conducting missions such as lunar surface geological surveys.

Building on this achievement, South Korea plans a lunar landing exploration by 2030 using a next-generation space launch vehicle upgraded from the Nuri rocket.

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