Alaska soon in range of North Korean missile

North Korea has transported its most advanced missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, to a launch site on its west coast near China, news reports said today.

The reclusive communist country was also reportedly bolstering it defenses and conducting amphibious assault exercises along its western shore, near disputed waters where deadly naval clashes with the South have occurred in the past.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile had been sent by train to the newly completed missile facility of Dongchang-ni, about 40 miles from the Chinese border.

Yonhap, quoting government sources, said the missile could be ready to launch in a week or two. South Korean media have speculated that the North wants to time the launch for around June 16, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has a summit in Washington with President Barack Obama.

Read the Analysis by AP HERE.

Korea & Japan seek ISS collaboration

Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter - The Korea Times

South Korea, a latecomer in the Asian space race, is constantly looking to tap technology and experience of more advanced nations, and Japan seems to be the latest target.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country’s space agency, said it is talking with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) over possible collaboration on several experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The experiments will be conducted on Japan’s Kibo ISS module ― which will be completed during the first half of this year ― sometime around 2012...

Read more HERE.

Korean launcher delayed by ITAR, etc.

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter, The Korea Times

Korea’s ambitious plan to put a satellite into the lunar orbit by 2020 could be troubled by difficulties in rocket development.

The country wants to launch a satellite into orbit from its brand new spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province next summer.

But even if the launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is a success, the Naro Space Center won’t be used again until 2017, when Korea plans to have its KSLV-2 locked and loaded.

The development of the KSLV-2 is the ultimate challenge for Korea as the government intends to localize the rocket.

Scientists and engineers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) developed the upper part of the KSLV-1 that is designed to hold a satellite, but Russia’s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center is providing the lower assembly of the rocket that contains the liquid-fuel propulsion system.

Countries such as the United States and Russia strictly prohibit the export of rocket propulsion technologies, due to the potential in military use, which means that the Koreans will have to figure out the hard parts themselves.

However, it seems that local scientists and policymakers have yet to agree on what the KSLV-2 should look like.

A Seoul official told The Korea Times that the government plans to spend around 22 billion won (about $15 million) next year to initiate the development of the KSLV-2, although the direction and pace of the project will be greatly effected by the results of the KSLV-1 launch.

``Most of the money will be used to create a blueprint for KSLV-2’s rocket system, which includes establishing its overall capabilities, mission and requirements for components,’’ said the official.

``Developing the liquid-fuel rocket engine will obviously be the biggest challenge, as it is the most crucial step of the project in which we won’t be getting any help. However, there is the possibility that we could partner with companies in other countries for the development of other parts,’’ he said.

There is a wide-ranging debate over how the KSLV-2, designed to support a payload of 1.5 tons, should be used. Some experts say it could be effectively used to launch multi-purpose low-orbit satellites, but the government seems to have bigger plans in mind, such as using the rocket for lunar exploration projects.

``If we have a successful launch in June, the development project for KSLV-2 could be started as early as July or August, and then we could have a clearly discussions about the purpose of the new rocket,’’ the official said.

Read more HERE.

Koreans build unmanned lunar lander

3 Pub Alley Moments, a UK blogger, is, at first glance, an apparently unlikely source pointing to the English version of Korea's Digital Chosunilbo story on an independent and successful effort to construct a prototype unmanned lunar lander.

Kwon Se-jin, a professor of aerospace engineering at KAIST, on Thursday said the team, in collaboration with Space Solution, have developed and tested a module that can travel to the moon from the earth's orbit and land on the moon's surface with its own engine propulsion.

The lunar module can be carried on a rocket into the earth's orbit and propel itself on into lunar orbit from there with its own engine several times. It measures 40 cm by 40 cm and consists of a propulsion engine and a control system. It can land on the moon's surface using its four legs. The engine also reduces the speed for the moon landing.

The concept puts the cost of a lunar lander mission using the basic design way below that of 1998's Lunar Prospector orbiter. The data gathered by that mission may have doubled our knowledge of the Moon, and it's data is still being stretched for more discoveries.

Not much for payload, even below the International Lunar Network's proposed 40 kilogram ceiling, but it may be an outstanding achievement anyway. It shows how technology has advanced in the four decades since Surveyor (1966-1968), especially in miniaturization and in the milling of materials, like valves and tanks. Smarter, lighters, stronger. Most of the cost appears to be locked into booster, TLI and cruise.

Competitors for the Google Lunar X-Prize take note!