South Korea cuts space ties with Russia, plans to launch its own satellites

Name: South Korea successfully launches home-grown Nuri space rocket
Uploaded: 2023-02-21T05:03:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 15 s
Description: South Korea successfully launches home-grown Nuri space rocket

Seoul last month revoked a contract with Moscow after relying on Russia for years to send South Korean probes into orbit

The move highlights the impact of international pressure over the war in Ukraine and will deal a harsh blow to Russia’s rocket programme

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A domestically developed single-stage rocket lifts off from a launch pad at the Naro Space Centre in South Korea in 2018. Plans to launch a satellite with Russia “have entirely gone awry”, a Korean minister said. Photo: Korea Aerospace Research Institute/Getty Images/TNS

Tribune News Service

Published: 1:03pm, 21 Feb 2023Updated: 1:25pm, 21 Feb 2023

South Korea is preparing a domestic rocket development programme as part of an ambitious drive to carve out a larger slice of the global space economy following the implosion of its partnership with Russia.

Seoul last month revoked a contract with Moscow in favour of a European operator to launch a satellite into space. Having relied on Russia for years to send its probes into orbit, the move is a tangible impact of sanctions on the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine.

“Our plans to launch a multipurpose satellite with Russia have entirely gone awry,” South Korea’s Science Vice-Minister Oh Tae-Seog said in an interview. “From the perspective of not only space industries but also national security, owning the ability to lift a satellite we want into space when we want is important.”

South Korea’s break-up with Moscow will be a harsh blow to Russia’s rocket programme, one of the nation’s strongest post-Soviet industries outside oil, and highlights the impact of international pressure. Space is also a natural next step for South Korea’s sophisticated economy, led by its hi-tech sector.

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South Korea successfully launches home-grown Nuri space rocket

“Even if the war is over, it won’t go back to the old times,” said Lee Changjin, a professor of aerospace engineering at Konkuk University in Seoul. “I am sure Moscow will try to re-enter the market once the war’s over given its large space industry cannot be sustained only with domestic demand.”