Another Player In the Moon Race

According to the South Korean government, the country will launch a lunar probe using an indigenous rocket in 2020. A development plan is being implemented in order for South Korea to become fully independent in building boosters and the unmanned probe itself. This was according to South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Technology. The standard bus module would be acquired by 2016. A 300-ton Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-II) booster will be built and tested by the year 2017.




Lee Ki-sung, who is the chief of the ministry’s space technology division, said the knowledge to make hi-res electro-optic and synthetic aperture radar will be acquired through the launch of multipurpose satellites over the coming years. If the moon probe is successful, he added Korea then plans to have a probe on the Moon’s surface by 2025. The KSLV-II will be a larger and more advanced model of the 170-ton KSLV-I to be used late next year by South Korea with Russian assistance. Seoul also plans to launch large satellites every three to four years and two smaller satellites every year. The country will spend about 3.6 trillion won—$3.8 billion—over the next 10 years as they attempt to catch up with China and Japan. The opening of their Naro Space Center makes it easier for South Korea to launch their own satellites, rather than relying on foreign sites.