Korea Aims to Launch Lunar Probe in 2020

Korean Information Service, Korea plans to launch a lunar probe using an indigenous rocket in 2020, the government said Tuesday (Nov. 20). 
 
The road map calls for a step-by-step development plan so the country can become fully independent in the building of boosters and the unmanned probe, the Ministry of Science and Technology said. 
 
It said scientists and engineers will build and test a 300-ton Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-II) booster by 2017, and that the “standard bus module” technology needed to make the probe would be be acquired by 2016. 
 
“Know-how to make high resolution electro-optic and synthetic aperture radar are to be acquired through the launch of multipurpose satellites in the coming years,” said Lee Ki-sung, head of the ministry's space technology division. 
 
He added that if the mission to send a probe to orbit the moon is a success, Seoul will send a probe to the moon's surface in 2025. 
 
The KSLV-II is expected to be a larger and more advanced model of the 170-ton KSLV-I that is to be launched in South Korea late next year with Russian assistance. 
 
The ministry's plan also calls for the building of facilities to check the performance of the rocket's turbo pumps, engines and other critical machinery by 2014. The rocket is expected to have four engines propelled by 75 tons of liquid fuel in the first stage, and another booster in the second stage. 
 
In addition to the lunar program, Seoul plans to launch a large satellite weighing about 100 kilograms every 3-4 years, and at least two smaller satellites weighing 1-10 kilograms every year. 
 
The opening of the Naro Space Center next year is expected to help the country launch its own satellites instead of relying on foreign facilities. 
 
Korea, a late starter in the space industry, said it will spend 3.6 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in the next 10 years to catch up with neighbors like Japan and China. It has already spent about 1.7 trillion won over the last decade on the country's space program. 
 
Japan successfully sent its SELENE probe into lunar orbit in September, while China launched its Chang'e 1 probe last month to observe the surface of the moon.