"It Kept Succeeding, So Why Keep Launching?"... Nuri Is Not the First to Reach the Moon

00:00 Nuri's 5th Launch Success, Where Does the Space Industry Stand?

01:10 Hard for Nuri to Reach the Moon? Why?

02:29 Why Until 2032 for Nuri?

03:35 Cost Reduced to 1/10 of Nuri's?

1. Nuri's 5th Launch Success, Where Does the Space Industry Stand?

The 5th launch of the Nuri rocket has also been successfully concluded.

[Lee Soon-deok / Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province: It was wonderful. It was so touching. I feel like crying.]

All five cluster satellites, which were the main payloads, communicated smoothly. Except for one cube satellite that failed to deploy, the remaining nine were also sent into space for their space missions. Except for the first launch, where the final push just before the target orbit fell slightly short, it has been four consecutive successes starting from the second launch. So, is it safe to say that our space industry has reached a normal orbit to some extent? While Nuri is clearly an outstanding achievement, many experts evaluate that with Nuri's success, we have now just taken our first step into the space industry. Let's look at the most famous rocket. SpaceX's Falcon 9 boasts overwhelming indicators of over 600 launches and a 99% mission success rate. Russia's Soyuz rocket has hundreds of launches, and the European Space Agency's Ariane rocket has over 100 launches, both boasting mission execution rates of over 90%. Nuri is still far short of being able to compete with them.

2. Hard for Nuri to Reach the Moon? Why?

Then what is Nuri's plan moving forward? With the Nuri enhancement project added once more, Nuri is scheduled to be launched two more times until 2028. Of course, this is not the end. Through subsequent continuous projects, it aims to be launched once a year until 2032. A lunar orbit communication satellite and other projects are planned for 2029, but the project has not yet been finalized. The problem is that it is difficult to send a satellite to the moon using Nuri alone. There are various orbits in space to get to the moon. You can think of them as a kind of highway. To get on this road, a craft flying at 7.7 to 7.8 kilometers per second in a 300-kilometer low Earth orbit must accelerate its speed to 10.8 to 10.9 kilometers per second. The problem is that acceleration itself is impossible because Nuri's third stage cannot be reignited. Also, with Nuri's current thrust, the weight that can be put into a lunar transfer orbit is only 100 kg, making it impossible to send a satellite capable of performing missions. Therefore, an orbital transfer vehicle is under development at a cost of some 40 billion won. This orbital transfer vehicle is loaded inside Nuri's fairing along with the satellite, helping the satellite reach the moon much like a fourth-stage rocket.

3. Why Until 2032 for Nuri?

Then why is the duration of Nuri's continuous project until 2032? It is because that is around the time when the next-generation launch vehicle preparing for Nuri's future will be ready. The next-generation launch vehicle is a successor project to Nuri, boasting a 700-ton class thrust, which is more than double Nuri's 300-ton class thrust. While Nuri can carry 3.3 tons based on low Earth orbit as a two-stage rocket advantageous for reuse, the next-generation launch vehicle is expected to carry more than 10 tons. According to current plans, one test launch is scheduled for 2031 and two launches in 2032. In the 2032 launches, it is planned to go into space carrying a lunar orbiter and a lunar lander respectively, and send the payloads to the moon. The important point is that a smooth baton pass must be made from Nuri to the next-generation launch vehicle. This is because the European Space Agency previously experienced an unexpected space void when its predecessor launch vehicle, Ariane 5, was retired before the launch of its successor, Ariane 6, and the development and launch of Ariane 6 were delayed.

4. Cost Reduced to 1/10 of Nuri's?

Securing economic feasibility is also very important. The next-generation launch vehicle was initially intended to be developed as a rocket using kerosene like Nuri, but the project was changed to a methane-fueled rocket, which is advantageous for reuse. This is because methane, which has fewer carbons in its molecules and produces less soot compared to kerosene, which produces a lot of soot during combustion, is more advantageous. The Korea AeroSpace Administration projected that if the next-generation launch vehicle is successfully developed as a reusable launch vehicle, launch costs can be lowered to 1/10 of the current Nuri launch cost. For launch vehicle costs, how much the passenger satellite pays per kg is important; while current Nuri is about $24,000 per kg, the next-generation launch vehicle can be lowered to about $2,500. Economic feasibility has been secured not only by being able to carry more passengers per launch, but also by recovering and reusing the first-stage rocket that was previously discarded. In this way, even if they receive the same money from passengers, more profit can be left over. Although it is an estimate, industry experts estimate that SpaceX's Falcon 9 also has a payload per kg of about $2,500, but actually receives about $5,000. Everything explained so far is still just a plan. What I felt while covering Nuri more than five times is that it is really not easy for the space industry to be implemented as planned due to its scale and scientific limitations. This 5th launch of Nuri was launched for the first time without delaying the scheduled time by even a minute. We hope that our remaining space industry plans, like the 5th launch of Nuri, will proceed smoothly.

(Reported by Seo Donggyun | Content by Shin Hee-sook | Video Reporting by Kang Dong-chul | Video Editing by Hong Jin-young | Design by Lee Jung-joo | Source: YouTube 'SpaceX', Produced by SBS Digital News)

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