"More Launch Opportunities Needed"... Nuri Rocket Partners Speak with One Voice to KASA

KASA Holds SOS Roundtable

"Need to Establish a Private-Led Commercial Launch System"

"Continuous launches are essential for the industry's growth."

Domestic space companies participating in the Nuri rocket launches have unanimously called for an expansion of stable launch opportunities. They argue that without sustained launch demand and a robust commercial launch system, it will be difficult for the domestic launch vehicle industry ecosystem to grow.

Nuri rocket on launch standby. Provided by Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA)

The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) announced on May 14 that it held the 5th 'Aerospace SOS Roundtable' at Hanwha Aerospace’s Plant 1 in Changwon, Gyeongnam Province.

The roundtable was attended by 11 companies involved in the Nuri rocket launch, including Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Vitro Nextech, Uconsystem, and Danam Systems.

The discussions focused on strengthening industrial competitiveness through continuous Nuri rocket launches and expanding public-private cooperation. The participating companies emphasized that securing stable launch opportunities is a key factor in revitalizing the launch vehicle industry. They also highlighted the need to generate ongoing launch demand and establish a competitive commercial launch service system.

Hanwha Aerospace, the system integrator, also shared updates on the ongoing preparations for the fifth Nuri rocket launch. The company explained that the assembly of the fifth Nuri rocket is currently 70% to 90% complete, and development is underway with the goal of launching in the third quarter of 2026.

The fifth Nuri rocket launch is scheduled to deploy five ultra-small cluster satellites and ten secondary payload satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit.

Oh Tae-seog, Administrator of the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), stated, "Through the continued successful launches of Nuri—Korea’s core space transportation infrastructure—we will enhance trust and competitiveness to vitalize the space industry ecosystem. Based on feedback from the field, the government will actively support the private sector to fully demonstrate its capabilities."

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