KSLV-III

KSLV-III is a medium orbit geostationary launch vehicle currently under development in South Korea, with the goal of its first launch in 2030.

History

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In February 2018, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a National Space Committee meeting and announced the 3rd Basic Plan for the Promotion of Space Development.^[1] In the launch vehicle sector, in order to establish a self-powered launch service foundation, a plan was established to foster a launch service ecosystem based on Nuri in the first stage from 2021 to 2025, and to secure price competitiveness through a domestic satellite launch mass production system in the second stage from 2026 to 2030.^[1]

On November 29, 2022, the MSIT held a meeting of the National Research and Development Project Evaluation Committee and passed the preliminary feasibility study for the Next-Generation Launch Vehicle Development Project;^[2] it was decided to develop the next-generation launch vehicle, KSLV-III, by investing 2.132 trillion won from 2023 to 2032.^[3]

In March 2024, Hanwha Aerospace was selected as the preferred bidder for the government-commissioned Next-Generation Launch Vehicle Development Project Launch Vehicle General Production project, passing the technology capability suitability assessment.^[4]

Design

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Compared to Nuri, which was developed in June 2021, KSLV-III is more advanced in comprehensive propulsion performance. Nuri's first stage thrust is 300 tons generated by four 75 tons liquid engines, but that of KSLV is 500 tons.^[3]

The KSLV-III's payload is over 10 tons, and it can be used to build a space station or assemble a lunar lander. Methane engines, hydrogen engines, launch vehicle reuse research, and solid booster technology are also being handled by the KSLV-III project.^[5]

In November 2022, the MSIT announced that "unlike Naro-1 and Nuri, which were developed under the leadership of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, we plan to enter into joint design of the KSLV-III with a system integration company."^[3]

Mission

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One of the most important missions is to transport the Korean lunar lander. It can send a 1.8-ton object to the moon. The launch vehicle is scheduled to be launched three times in total, and the main plan is as follows:^[3]

2030: Performance verification satellite to test Lunar orbit insertion scheduled for launch
2031: Lunar lander preliminary model scheduled for launch
2032: Final model of lunar lander scheduled for launch

The preliminary model of the lunar lander will not carry any lunar exploration equipment and will only land on the moon. The final model, scheduled for launch in 2032, is expected to carry various exploration equipment.^[3]

References

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^ ^a ^b "10년 늦춰진 달 탐사... 더 멀어진 '우주강국 꿈'". Korea Economic Daily . 5 February 2018.
^ "'누리호' 이을 차세대 발사체 2조 예산 예타 통과... 목표는 '달 착륙'". Chosun Biz7. 29 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "달 착륙선 실을 '차세대 발사체' 예타 통과...개발에 2조원 투입". Kyunghyang Shinmun . 29 November 2022.
^ "한화에어로, 차세대발사체 사업자 선정...2032년 달착륙선 보낸다". Yonhap News . 20 March 2024.
^ "4차부터는 한화가 총사령관...한국판 '스페이스X' 뜬다". Seoul Economic Daily. 25 May 2023.

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS ^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1 ^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 HANBIT-NANO Hyperbola-2 Irtysh KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130 ^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able ^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga ^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I ^† II ^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D ^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1 ^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan ^† Pilot-2 ^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna ^† Rocket 3 RS1 ^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II ^† X-2 ^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B ^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK ^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1 ^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1 ^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1 ^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)