Postponed Completion

An image of Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2).
An image of Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2).

 

The Ministry of Science & ICT held a public hearing in Seoul on November 21 and announced that the launch of Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2), which was previously scheduled to be launched in 2020, will be postponed by up to one year. The date of launch was moved up by one year in the previous Park Geun-hye government and has been restored this time in accordance with the original plan of the ministry.

The KSLV is a three-stage launch vehicle capable of putting a 1.5-ton application satellite into a low earth orbit of 600 km to 800 km. The ministry also announced that it would launch a lunar orbiter in 2020 as planned before launching a lunar module before the end of 2030. In addition, the ministry said that South Korea would launch every non-large satellite by 2030 by using its own technology and establish a national satellite navigation system by 2034.

The development of the KSLV is based on South Korea’s own technology in every step, ranging from design and production to testing, assembly and launch. The total cost of the project is 1.9572 trillion won. The project for the development and launch of the lunar module was previously planned to be kicked off in or after 2020 but the date has been changed this time.

The public hearing announcements are reflected in South Korea’s Third Space Development Promotion Basic Plan, which is scheduled to be reviewed and fixed by the National Space Council next month.

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