Private-Led Industrial Ecosystem and Location Conditions
Forging Plant Must Be Established in Well-Equipped Changwon
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Song Jong-gu] On the 6th, the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Gyeongnam sent a “Request for the Korean-type Space Launch Vehicle Assembly Facility to be Located in Changwon” to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, and Hanwha Aerospace.
The government has promoted the development of a Korean-type space launch vehicle led by the private sector in line with the era of private space development, and in October last year, Hanwha Aerospace, located in Changwon, was finally selected as the system integrator company to carry out this project.
Accordingly, Hanwha Aerospace is scheduled to participate in the assembly and manufacturing of the Korean Launch Vehicle (KSLV-Ⅲ) development project through technology transfer from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, as well as in the operation of the third Nuriho launch planned for the first half of this year. It is known that the site selection for the assembly facility (space launch vehicle production base) to carry out this is underway.
In this regard, the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated in the request, “The future space is expected to be not only a place to look straight ahead but also a space for utilization and a battleground for national security. Therefore, future space development projects can be considered a national long-term plan,” adding, “The assembly facility established according to the Korean-type space launch vehicle advancement project should be fostered not simply as a space launch vehicle assembly site but as an asset for private industrialization and future growth strategic industries.”
They continued, “The assembly facility should be established in a region centered around the system integrator company, where companies with abundant technology and experience in launch vehicle assembly and manufacturing are concentrated.”
They further stated, “Changwon is scheduled to have the Ultra-High Temperature Materials Demonstration Research Center installed, and small and medium-sized material, parts, and equipment companies capable of producing ultra-precision parts in the ground, aviation, and space fields, focusing on precision machinery and electrical control, are located here. It is the region that best fits government policies pursuing expansion into defense space, as seen in advanced countries such as the United States and France, which have repeatedly developed the aerospace field through defense industry linkage.”
A representative of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry emphasized, “The significance of this Korean-type space launch vehicle development means that Korea’s private-led space era has begun, similar to the cases of NASA and SpaceX in the United States,” and added, “For this, the creation of a private-centered industrial ecosystem is most important, so the Korean-type space launch vehicle assembly facility should be installed in Changwon Special City, which has the optimal location conditions.”
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