SK Hynix DRAM Selected as Payload for Nuriho 5th Launch

Supporting Space Environment Verification for Domestically Developed Devices and Components by Korean Companies

SK Hynix's DRAM and UFS, and Insera Solution Co., Ltd.'s high-speed and precision adjustment mirrors have been selected as payloads for the second space verification satellite to be launched on the 5th Nuri rocket next year.

The Korea Aerospace Administration and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute announced the results of the selection for the payloads of the second space verification satellite under the 'Domestic Components and Parts Space Verification Support Project' on the 13th.

The third launch scene of Nuri, the Korean-type space launch vehicle independently developed by our country. Photo by Yonhap News

The space verification project is a four-year initiative from 2024 to 2027 with a budget of 12 billion KRW, supporting the space verification of domestically developed electrical and electronic component-level parts and semiconductors. A CubeSat-based verification platform (12U class, 1U = 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm) is being developed to carry domestically developed components and parts in board and module units up to a maximum of 8U, supporting verification in the space environment.

The payloads selected for the second space verification satellite include SK Hynix's DRAM and UFS, Insera Solution Co., Ltd.'s high-speed and precision adjustment mirrors, Momentum Space Co., Ltd.'s reaction wheels, KAIST's attitude determination and system modules, CosmoBee Co., Ltd.'s 1A-class hollow cathode for electric thrusters, and Intergravity Technologies' avionics testbed for orbital transport vehicles. These will be loaded onto the satellite scheduled to be launched on the 5th Nuri rocket in 2026 and sent into space.

The main body of the space verification satellite, selected last year, is being developed by Nara Space Tech Co., Ltd. in collaboration with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The payloads for the first space verification satellite from three companies?Samsung Electronics (DRAM, NAND), KAIST Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuit Laboratory (AD/DA ASIC), and MID Co., Ltd. (SRAM, diode, connector, thermistor, heater, magnetics)?are scheduled to be launched on the 4th Nuri rocket at the end of this year to support space verification.

Han Chang-heon, Director of the Aerospace Industry Bureau at the Korea Aerospace Administration, stated, "Through this project, the space verification and space history acquisition of domestically developed components and parts will enhance technological competitiveness and self-reliance, and furthermore, it will have a positive impact on pioneering markets for domestic components and parts."