Will Korea Get Third Rocket Launch?
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korean and Russian engineers will meet in Moscow next week to debate the failure of Korea's first space rocket in its mission to deliver a satellite into orbit, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Monday.
Although the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) reached its desired speed and height on its Aug. 25 launch at the Naro Space Center, a malfunction in the rocket's second stage prevented its payload satellite from being released properly. The satellite was likely burned and destroyed in the atmosphere as it crashed back to Earth.
Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, which is providing the technology for the Korean rocket project, is contracted for another launch during the first half of next year and a possible third should it be found responsible for failure in any of the first two launches.
So how to define ``failure'' would certainly be a touchy subject for the experts of both countries in their discussions at the first meeting of the failure review board (FRB) next Thursday.
The Russians can obviously claim that they delivered on their end of the deal. The Khrunichev Center was responsible for the development of the KSLV-1 first stage, which consisted of the liquid-fuel propulsion system and rocket engine, and the rocket did hit its vertical target.
The rocket's flawed second stage, which was supposed to eject the satellite into its right position, was a product of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country's space agency.
However, Korean government officials, attempting to secure commitment for a third launch, have been claiming that the Khrunichev Center should be held partly responsible for the malfunction of the second stage, as it guided the overall direction of the rocket project.
``The FRB meetings will be held over three to four days in Moscow starting next Thursday. We are also close to concluding our own research on the reasons why the fairings, which covered the satellite, weren't separated properly,'' said a ministry official.
Khrunichev Center engineers are joining their KARI colleagues to investigate what prevented the rocket's pair of nose fairings, which covered the satellite, from opening properly.
It is believed that the problem was likely related to the set of explosives used to break the fairings from the rocket. The KSLV-1 second-stage used an ``explosive bolt'' technique whereby a dozen or more bolts stitching the fairings with the rocket are ignited and blow apart.
Video footage from the built-in cameras attached to the rocket, which was not made available to the public and only shown to a selected group of media members, confirmed that one of the fairings remained attached until 540 seconds after the launch. It likely broke off only after the satellite, which was ejected in time, knocked it on its way.
The investigation team is planning to reenact the functions of the KSLV-1 second stage in KARI's laboratory, using the same equipment and same amount of explosives.
After launching KSLV-1 rockets once or twice more, Korea will focus on its second-generation space rocket, the KSLV-II, which it plans to complete and launch by 2019, relying nearly entirely on domestic technology.
The government is planning to spend around 1.5 trillion won (about $1.3 billion) on KSLV-II, which will be used to send a 1.5-kilogram satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of somewhere between 600 to 800 kilometers.
Unlike the two-stage KSLV-I, the KSLV-II will be a three-stage rocket measuring 50 meters in height and 3 meters in diameter. The first stage of the rocket will have four liquid-fuel rocket engines, each providing around 75 to 80 tons of thrust.
Another rocket engine with similar power will be installed on the second-stage of the rocket, while the third-stage, which will carry the satellite, will have a pressure-fed rocket engine generating about 5 tons of thrust.
The problem with the parliaments' decision to delay the launch of the second generation of SLVs until 2019 is that it renders our Naro space center unnecessarily expensive to maintain without seeing much practical use.
