By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korea, a latecomer in the Asian space race, is constantly looking to tap technology and experience of more advanced nations, and Japan seems to be the latest target.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country’s space agency, said it is talking with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) over possible collaboration on several experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The experiments will be conducted on Japan’s Kibo ISS module ― which will be completed during the first half of this year ― sometime around 2012, a year after the ISS is expected to be totally outfitted.
Under the discussed plans, KARI will develop the mission unique equipment (MUE) to be used in the Kibo laboratory, while Japanese engineers will take care of the delivery and operation of the machines, KARI officials said.
Although the objectives and range of the experiments have yet to be finalized, KARI officials said they would include developing technologies for manned space missions.
KARI has assigned researchers at Seoul National University (SNU) for a survey on local scientists, engineers and technology companies for recommendations on research subjects and related equipment development.
The subjects will be decided by the end of the year, with the development of equipment set to start in 2010, KARI officials said.
``JAXA officials have suggested that we can use the multi-purpose small rack (MPSR) on the Kibo ISS module for the experiments, with the research results shared by both countries,’’ said a KARI official.
``Through discussions, we have confirmed significant mutual interest. There is also a chance that some of our experimental equipment will be carried on the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), which is to be launched in September,’’ he said.
The HTV is a robotic spacecraft designed to re-supply the Kibo module and possibly the rest of the ISS if needed.
When completed, Kibo, a Japanese word for ``hope,’’ will be the largest laboratory to be established on the ISS.
The first two pieces of the module were launched to the space station last year, and the final third piece is to be launched during this year, possibly around April.
The ISS, whose on-orbit construction began in 1998, is a research facility being assembled in outer space and currently orbits 350 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, traveling at an average speed of 27,700 kilometers per hour.
The space station is a joint project among the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and 10 European countries.
Korea has been pushing an aggressive space program over the past decade. With the help of Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, KARI is planning to launch a rocket into orbit from the country's brand new spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, around June this year.
A successful launch would make Korea the ninth country in the world to launch a spacecraft from its own soil.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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