South Korea successfully tested a solid fuel rocket for the first time today. an important step towards using more satellites in the future Reconnaissance at a time marked by repeated missile tests by its northern neighbor.
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The South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement The test was conducted on a floating platform in the waters of the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in the two Koreas) near the Defense Development Agency (ADD) test center in Taean, 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The success of this test is a milestone “in strengthening the independent defense capabilities of the Army of the Republic of Korea (official name of the country). in the countryside
of space reconnaissance and surveillance at a very critical time for the recent launch of an ICBM by North Korea,” the text reads.
The statement and the video provided by Defense certify that the test, in which Secretary of Defense Suh Wook participated, served to verify the operation of the solid motor, the correct separation of the phases of the missile and the so-called “attitude control” of the final phase of the missile.
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The ministry pointed this out in February would test solid fuel technology this month based on its plan to launch satellitesWith this system in 2024, he insisted today on its advantages over liquid fuel, which is more expensive in production, development and agility in use.
Defense hopes that the development of a space rocket of this type will serve to “deploy small satellites or multiple microsatellites in low-Earth orbit” with a view to later transferring this technology to the private sector and reviving the domestic aerospace sector.
Today’s launch comes after Seoul and Washington agreed last year to lift restrictions on the range of South Korean projectiles (including ballistic missiles), previously capped at 800 kilometers.
The test also comes at a time marked by North Korea’s repeated projectile tests (there were 12 this year, a record number), including that of an ICBM missile — the first of its kind since 2017. last week and other similar tests that Pyongyang says are closely related to the development of new surveillance satellites.
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The recent advances both neighbors have shown in the aerospace and military fields indicate an important military escalation in the peninsula.
EFE
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