[Reading Science] What We Need Now Is Not the Ujucheong but a "Liquid Methane Engine"

Reasons Why KAERI Employees Oppose the Long-Awaited Space Agency

On the 25th of last month, the third launch of the Korean-style Nuri rocket was successful. There is a flurry of grandiose rhetoric about the dawn of the 'space economy' and the New Space era, as well as Korea's leap to becoming one of the seven major space powers. However, experts caution against excessive praise, saying, "We have only just laid one stepping stone." What exactly is needed for Korea to truly join the ranks of space powers? Could policies such as the establishment of the Space Aviation Agency, promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, be the answer?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Just as curiosity peaked, the field researchers who developed Nuri provided answers. This came through the mouths of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) employees, members of the National Science and Technology Union's KARI branch. Unexpectedly, they opposed the Yoon administration's plan to establish the Space Agency. Instead, they emphasized that what is urgently needed is a 'liquid methane engine' to compete with SpaceX.

For KARI employees and other space development researchers, the establishment of an independent agency dedicated to space development had been a long-cherished wish. They felt their pride was hurt and experienced inefficiencies and the limitations of 'political winds' while working with Ministry of Science and ICT officials, who are non-experts assigned to space policy tasks for only one to two years despite having field experience and expertise as 'PhDs.' Compared to space powers, Korea is already 30 to 40 years behind. The scope is expanding, and the 'universe' is growing. There was a need for an independent and powerful specialized agency that could lead without being swayed by political winds.

However, they opposed the special law bill for establishing the Space Aviation Agency submitted by the current government to the National Assembly. Why is that?

First, there is the issue of 'effectiveness.' They fear that if the Space Agency is established as an external agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT as proposed by the government, it will result in a 'make-work' outcome. In this regard, the National Science and Technology Union's KARI branch officially expressed opposition on the 1st, stating, "The special law bill for the Space Agency promoted by the government should not be passed." The bill is criticized for allowing the Ministry of Science and ICT, which lacks expertise, to retain management and supervisory authority over space policy, resulting in no significant change from the current situation. Above all, the head of the Space Agency cannot independently submit budgets or legislative proposals, which undermines its independence and prevents it from coordinating and overseeing inter-ministerial roles. The government plans to elevate the chairperson of the National Space Committee to the president and assign the Space Agency head as the secretary of the working-level committee to enable coordination. However, field researchers argue that to establish a strong and independent agency dedicated to space development, as originally demanded, a direct agency under the president must be created. It should effectively lead the national space development strategy.

There is also strong opposition regarding the 'location.' Although no one openly discusses it due to potential political and regional conflicts, KARI employees are dissatisfied with the plan to locate the Space Agency in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, as per President Yoon's election pledge. Currently, Korea's space industry has its 'head'?policy and research institutions?in the Daedeok Research Complex in Daejeon, while the 'hands and feet'?production bases?are located in Changwon and Sacheon, Gyeongnam. If the Space Agency, which will oversee policy and research, is established in Sacheon instead of Daejeon, significant inefficiencies in practical operations are inevitable. It would be like detaching the 'brain' from the head and attaching it to the hands and feet. Moreover, rocket launches take place at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeonnam, which is 3 to 4 hours from Daejeon. To oversee key tasks such as component development sites, policy decision meetings, and launch sites simultaneously, one would have to circle the entire country. The sudden and highly political decision on the Space Agency's location is also criticized. President Yoon decided the location through a 'divide and share' style election pledge, placing the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in Daejeon and the Space Agency in Sacheon, without any procedures for gathering opinions or analyzing efficiency.

Along with their opposition to the Space Agency, the KARI branch proposed alternative policies. They urged the integration of space-related public research institutions into a space development coordination body under a presidential direct space agency, responsible for building and advancing space infrastructure. They emphasized that civil-military and industry-academia-research sectors should form a fleet and divide roles to establish and execute a national-level catch-up strategy.

In particular, as 'field researchers' facing Korea's current situation, they identified tasks necessary to truly open the era of the space economy. The foremost was the development of a reusable, low-cost, medium-to-large commercial launch vehicle liquid methane engine capable of competing with SpaceX. SpaceX has drastically reduced launch costs and swept the global satellite launch market. For Korea, which is 30 to 40 years behind, catching up urgently is necessary even to carve out a niche market. Since basic and fundamental technologies have already been developed, investing a few tens of billions of won over about five years could produce a somewhat competitive launch vehicle to target niche markets.

The KARI branch also called for the conversion of the Naro Space Center's first launch pad into a launch pad for private low-earth orbit small launch vehicles, reinforcement of personnel and organizational restructuring for the continuous operation of the Naro Space Center, full efforts to lift or ease the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), integrated management of satellite demand and utilization across ministries, establishment of a space development corporation centered on KARI's launch vehicle and satellite sectors, and systematic management and guaranteed treatment of space sector personnel.