Ministry of National Defense "The space launch vehicle test was successful... Only the first stage engine remains"

<Anchor>

Regarding the space launch vehicle that surprised many people last Friday, today (the 2nd) the Ministry of National Defense evaluated that it was a successful launch that could greatly improve our surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

This time, the ignition combustion test was successful for the second to fourth stages of the launch vehicle, and only the first stage engine test is left in the future.

First, let's look at reporter Hong Young-jae's report.

<Reporter>

Last Friday evening, a space projectile shot by our military soared into the sky.

White smoke indicates that this projectile's fuel is solid.

Upon exiting the atmosphere, the fairings covering the projectiles fell off, and each propellant separated and ignited again.

The solid fuel projectile test of our proprietary technology is the second after March last year, and the military announced that it has verified all combustion, fairing separation, stage separation, upper posture control technology, and payload separation for each propulsion engine.

In the launch in March of last year, the combustion of the second stage propellant was tested, but this time, not only the second stage but also the third and fourth stage propellants were separated and burned.

The final goal, the separation of the model satellite, also proceeded normally.

Now, only the most difficult stage 1 engine test remains.

A military official said that the experiment was successful and evaluated that our solid fuel projectile technology had reached the level just before completion.

Solid fuel projectiles have the advantage of being cheaper and faster than liquid fuels.

The military aims to put a micro-satellite weighing about 500 kg into low earth orbit at an altitude of 500 km around 2025.

Regarding the commotion caused by the sudden experiment at the end of the year, it was explained that it was the optimal launch time considering various conditions such as the weather and the fishing situation of fishermen, and there was no other intention.

(Video editing: Jung Sung-hoon, CG: Park Chun-woong, Choi Ha-neul, Jegal-chan)

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<Anchor>

Reporter Hong Young-jae is with me.

[Reporter Hong Young-jae: First of all, it is not related to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In general, it is known that liquid fuel with better power is more suitable for intercontinental ballistic missiles than solid fuel.

This projectile test is a process to secure a new projectile that runs its engine with solid fuel rather than liquid fuel.

The goal of this launch is primarily to transport military reconnaissance satellites, and secondly to secure new ballistic missiles by raising warheads instead of satellites.

Compared to liquid fuel, solid fuel projectiles do not require additional fuel injection time and are easy to store, so they have many military advantages because they can be launched at any time.]

[Reporter Hong Young-jae: Today, a military official said that the level of our solid fuel projectile is world-class, in addition to the expression that it is on the verge of completion.

Of course, it would be difficult to compare directly with other countries, but North Korea announced last month that it had succeeded in testing a solid fuel engine capable of lifting 140 tons.

A military official said that in order to lift a launch vehicle into space orbit, much greater thrust was needed than North Korea's disclosed capabilities, implying that we have better technology than North Korea.]

[Reporter Hong Young-jae: Our military said it would put a small or micro-satellite on Earth's orbit by 2025.

In the future, there remains a plan to test the burning of the first stage projectile, which will exert a strong thrust at the lowest part of the projectile.

The military said it plans to conduct more projectile tests similar to last week's several times in the future.]