Korea launches W1 tln satellite project
By Choi Kyong-ae
KAI’s mid-size satellite
Korea will invest 1 trillion won ($888 million) developing mid-size satellites by 2025 as it seeks to export a range of satellites and airplanes in the long-term, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said Tuesday.
“We are drawing up a broad strategy to sell a package product of satellites and aircraft in the world’s aerospace market in which Korean companies have yet to make a presence,” KAI President and Chief Executive Ha Sung-yong said.
On Tuesday, KAI was selected as the final bidder in the government’s satellite development project, it said.
With technology support from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer is developing 12 500-kilogram satellites. They are designed for ground observation, reconnaissance and weather forecasting.
KARI and KAI will form a joint planning team to develop the first of 12 “next-generation” satellites based on the former’s accumulated know-how and experience in making satellites over the past two decades, a company spokesman said.
“Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, spent a total of 3 trillion won, or 150 billion won a year, in aerospace-related projects from 1993 through 2012,” the spokesman said.
The government allocated 337.2 billion won for 2014 and 509.6 billion won for 2015 to the aerospace budget, he said.
Korea has completed 13 satellites, most weighing more than 1,500 kilograms. Six are in operation while the rest have been decommissioned after years of operation, KAI said.
Last year, the government selected KAI to spend 257.2 billion won developing a space launch vehicle ― without the help of Russia and other countries ― by 2021. In the past, Russia helped with the Naro, Korea’s first space rocket.
“We are developing a space launch vehicle that can ccarry a 1,500-kilogram satellite into orbit,” the spokesman said.
Helped by satellite and space rocket projects, KAI aims to add about 350 billion won to overall sales 10 years from now, the company said. It now earns 15 billion won in those sectors.
KAI, which also makes military aircraft, posted a net profit of 43.59 billion won in the January-March period, jumping from 17.68 billion won a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.
The state-run Korea Development Bank owns a 26.8, followed by Hanwha Techwin with a 10 percent and Hyundai Motor with a 10 percent, KAI said.