No Korean rocket liftoff for 2011

After bungling consecutive tries to join the space-launch industry, it appears that South Korea will have to wait for its third attempt.

South Korea already saw two Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) rockets turn into expensive space junks, and it remains to be seen when the country will get a third try if ever. / Korea Times file

By Kim Tong-hyung

After bungling consecutive tries to join the space-launch industry, it appears that South Korea will have to wait for its third attempt.

Accusations continue to fly left and right between officials here and their Russian technology providers over which side is to blame for the explosion of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) moments after its June liftoff at the Naro Space Center.

A number of experts close to the situation believe that all the finger-pointing could force a third launch, originally scheduled for next spring, to be pushed back sometime after 2012.

``It remains to be seen whether the failure review panel consisting of experts from both countries will ever agree on what caused the rocket to explode and produce a conclusive report on their investigation by the end of the year, as the preparation for a third launch could only be considered after that. If the panel fails to agree by the end of the year or the very early part of next year, you can forget about a launch in 2011,’’ said an aerospace expert involved in the rocket project, who preferred not to be named. ``It will take at least 10 months to prepare for the launch, considering the time the Russians need to deliver the rocket and for us to produce the payload satellite. However, this is when everything goes smoothly as planned without setbacks and it’s debatable whether a winter launch would be reasonable.’’

The failed rocket launch this summer represented South Korea’s second major space setback in the span of less than a year, and the country is desperate to avoid a third strike.

In the first flight in August last year, the rocket, carrying a climate observation satellite, achieved desired speed and height, but failed to deliver its payload into orbit.

South Korean and Russian engineers have been debating in several failure review board (FRB) meetings since June in the official process of failure analysis. The next FRB meeting is scheduled for December, according to officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which provided the core technologies for the South Korean rocket project, is contractually obligated to provide at least two launches and a possible third should its technology be found responsible for a failure in any of the first two attempts.

The Khrunichev Center produced the lower assembly of the two-stage KSLV-1 that contained the rocket engine and liquid-fuel propulsion system, while the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the South Korean space agency, was responsible for the upper part of the rocket that holds the satellite.

Pointing to the fact that the KSLV-1 exploded just 137 seconds after its recent liftoff, KARI officials claim that a flawed separation between the rocket’s first and second stages, which relied on a system made by the Russians, was the likely cause of failure.

In response, the Khrunichev Center suggests that something might have been wrong with the flight termination system that is controlled by KARI’s ground facilities, sources said.

Officials at KARI and the Science Ministry are still hopeful of a launch around November next year.

Some experts wonder whether a winter launch could be risky, considering the changes in the viscosity of LOX/kerosene, which is used as rocket fuel, at lower temperatures.

South Korean officials had been accused of hastening the second KSLV-1 launch, despite the warning signs during preparation. The liftoff was interrupted twice by unexpected technical problems, related to the cable connections on the launch pad and fire safety problems, and Min Kyung-ju, the director of the Naro Space Center, hinted to journalists before the launch that there was pressure to meet the deadline.

``The worries about a winter launch should be dismissed. The KSLV-1 is designed to be launched in any conditions between minus 10 and 35 degrees Celsius, so it would be possible to launch rockets in Korea in the winter,’’ said a Science Ministry official.

나로호 3차 발사 내년 가능할까

한국은 우주 발사 시장 진입을 위한 지난 두 번의 시도에서 모두 쓴 잔을 마셨다. 세 번째 시도는 조금 더 기다려야 할 것 같다.
지난 6월 나로우주센터에서 이륙 직후 폭발한 한국형 우주발사체 KSLV-1 (나로호)의 2차 발사 실패 원인을 두고 한국과 러시아 분석이 계속

엇갈리면서 사실상 내년 세 번째 발사가 어렵지 않은가 하는 전망이 지배적이다.
상황을 가까이서 주시하고 있는 전문가들은 발사 원인을 두고 한국과 러시아간의 논쟁이 길어지면서 원래는 내년 봄에 계획되어있던 KSLV-1 3차 발사가 2012년 이후로 미뤄질 가능성이 커졌다고 말한다.

한국 로켓프로젝트에 참여하고 있는 한 전문가는 ``발사 실패를 조사하기 위한 한국, 러시아 양국의 패널이 올해 말까지 로켓의 폭발 원인에 대한 공감을 이루고 결론을 도출할 수 있을지 지켜 볼일이다. 3차 발사에 대한 준비는 그 이후에나 가능하다. 올해 말이나 내년 초까지 결론을 도출하지 못한다면 2011년 발사는 어렵다고 봐야 한다,’’라고 말했다.