나로호의 꿈은 중단되지 않는다

[chung-wha]

Deuxième essai pour Naro, la fusée sud-coréenne 

2010-06-08

Le second lancement de Naro, la première fusée sud-coréenne, est prévu pour le mercredi 9 juin. Le vice-ministre des Sciences et de la Technologie, Kim Joong-hyun, n’annoncera l’heure exacte du tir qu’après la réunion du comité de surveillance qui devrait avoir lieu demain vers 13h30. Lors de cette réunion, les résultats des tests effectués conjointement par la Russie et la Corée du Sud devraient être confirm‎és.

Naro

Naro est la première fusée à deux étages qu’a créée la Corée du Sud. Elle a pour mission de placer en orbite, à 300 kilomètres de la Terre, un satellite scientifique de 100 kg. Le lancement de Naro est très important car il marque un tournant pour le programme spacial national et pour le futur de l’astraunautique sud-coréenne.
Le premier étage de Naro est un moteur-fusée à propergol liquide développé par l’entreprise russe Khrunichev, qui devrait propulser Naro jusqu’à une altitude de 200 kilomètres. Le second étage de Naro, qui possède un moteur-fusée à combustible solide, a été entièrement conçu et fabriqué à l’aide de technologies sud-coréennes et devrait mettre le satellite en orbite dès que les deux étages se seront séparés.
Lors du premier lancement de Naro, le 25 août 2009, la mission avait échoué car un côté de la coiffe qui protège le satellite lors du lancement ne s’était pas ouvert pour la mise en orbite.

L’astronautique sud-coréenne

Pour une mission spaciale réussie, trois conditions doivent être réunies : la charge utile, le lanceur et le centre spacial.
La Corée du Sud s’est dotée de son propre centre spacial en juin 2009 : le Naro Space Center qui est situé à Gohung.
On appelle « charge utile », le satellite ou l’élément que l’on désire envoyer dans l’espace et qui est transporté dans la fusée. On appelle « lanceur », la fusée en elle-même. Ce véhicule requiert une technologie extrêmement complexe, car il doit être capable de transporter une lourde charge sur plusieurs milliers de kilomètres, tout en assurant une stabilité et une trajectoire définie et en permettant le guidage au sol. Depuis la fabrication d’un moteur-fusée au propergol solide en 1990, la Corée du Sud n’a cessé de développer ses savoirs-faire dans le domaine. En 1993, le pays a envoyé dans l’espace la fusée à un étage KSR-I et en 1997, le KSR Rocket Science-II, qui était une fusée à deux étages. En 2002, pour le lancement de KSR-III, la Corée du Sud a utilisé pour la première fois du propergol liquide. Toutes ces technologies ont permis la naissance de Naro. Même si le premier étage de la fusée a été conçu par les Russes, cette collaboration permettra aux Coréens de construire très prochainement leur propre lanceur.

Nouveau lancement de Naro

L'échec du premier lancement de Naro a été attribué à la séparation incomplète de l'une des protections couvrant le satellite. Les scientifiques ont travaillé à résoudre ce problème pour le prochain lancement. Il faut environ une minute et 30 secondes après le décollage pour que les deux étages se séparent. Lorsque le satellite STSAT-II sera placé en orbite, les dispositifs de communications et tous les équipements scientifiques seront activés. La première communication entre le satellite et le centre de commandement au sol situé à l’Institut des sciences et des techonologies avancées de Corée(Kaist) de Daejeon devrait avoir lieu 13 heures après le lancement. Si la communication est établie alors la mission sera un succès qui pourrait permettre à la Corée du Sud de développer sa technologie aérospatiale et de devenir l’un des seuls pays au monde capable de concevoir, crééer et lancer ses fusées sans assistance internationale.

나로호의 꿈은 중단되지 않는다

2010-06-11

우주로 가는 길은 험난했습니다.

한국의 첫 우주발사체 나로호가 10일 2차 발사에 도전했지만, 목표 궤도에 올라서지 못한 채 폭발해 추락한 것으로 판단돼 실패로 끝나고 말았습니다.

그러나 2차 발사의 실패가 우주 개발 도전의 좌절은 아닙니다.

우주 개발은 “실패를 먹고 자란다”는 말처럼 나로호의 도전은 계속될 것입니다.


나로호 2차 발사는 당초 9일로 예정됐다가 소화장비 불안정으로 한차례 연기된 끝에 10일 오후 5시1분에 이뤄졌습니다.

지난 해 지난해 1차 발사에서 인공위성을 덮고 있는 페어링 한쪽이 분리되지 않아 실패했던 것을 수정 보완해 두 번째 도전에 나선 것입니다.

나로호는 힘차게 땅을 박차고 올라 우주를 향해 날아갔습니다만, 이륙 137초 후 통신이 두절됐고, 이때 폭발해 추락한 것으로 판단됐습니다.

안병만 교육과학기술부 장관은 브리핑을 통해 “나로호 상단의 탑재카메라 영상이 밝아지는 것을 볼 때 나로호는 1단 연소 구간에서 비행 중 폭발했을 것으로 판단된다”고 밝혔습니다.


나로호는 KSLV 1호, 즉 한국의 첫 우주발사체입니다.

1단 로켓은 액체연료를 사용하며 러시아가 개발했고, 2단 로켓은 고체연료를 사용하는 킥모터로 국내 자체개발품입니다.

여기에 역시 한국 독자기술로 개발된 100kg급 과학기술위성 2호가 탑재돼 있습니다.

나로호는 소형 위성을 고도 300km의 지구 저궤도에 올려놓는 것을 목표로 하고 있으며, 이는 1.5톤 급 상용위성을 지구궤도에 쏘아 올릴 KSLV 2호 개발로 가는 징검다리 격입니다.


이런 측면에서 나로호의 2차 발사 실패는 단순히 실패로만 끝나지 않는 것입니다.

우주개발 과정에서 실패는 기술 축적 과정이기도 합니다.

어떤 상황이 발생할지 예측할 수 없는 것이 우주 로켓 발사이므로 실패를 통해 다양한 경험을 쌓는 것이 단숨에 성공하는 것보다 나을 수도 있다는 것입니다.

중요한 것은 한두 번의 실패로 좌절하지 않는 것입니다.


이런 측면에서 안병만 교과부 장관의 브리핑은 의미심장합니다.

안 장관은 첫째 3차 발사가 이뤄질 것임을 분명히 하고, 둘째 이번 폭발이 1단 연소 구간에서 발생했다고 밝혔습니다.

러시아와의 협력 개발 계약은 2차례 성공을 명시하고 있으므로 1단 연소구간에서 폭발이 있었다면 추가 비용 없이 다시 발사할 수 있음을 뜻합니다.

이를 바탕으로 3차 발사 계획을 천명함으로써 정부의 우주 개발 의지를 다시 한번 과시한 것입니다.

나로호의 꿈은 결코 중단되지 않고 계속될 것입니다.

Second Launch of Korea’s Space Rocket Naro

2010-06-08

The second launch of the first Korean-developed rocket Naro is slated for June 9th. The precise time of the launch will be announced on that date at around 1:30 in the afternoon after second Vice Minister of Education and Science Kim Joong-hyun opens a Naro oversight committee and confirm‎s the final rehearsal results of the Korea-Russian Joint Flight Test Committee.

The Naro

The Naro is Korea’s first independently-made space launch vehicle. It’s a two-stage rocket and its mission is to place a 100-kilogram science satellite on a 300-kilometer orbit. The Naro’s launch signals a turning point for the nation’s space launch vehicle development program. The first stage is a liquid-fueled engine developed by Russia’s Khrunichev Inc. and is designed to take the Naro to the altitude of about 200 kilometers. The second stage is a kick motor which uses solid fuel. Made purely with Korean technology, the second stage has to put the satellite in the earth’s low orbit after the first stage rocket has detached. In the first launch of the Naro on August 25th in 2009 one side of the fairings that covered the satellite did not separate and the mission to put the satellite in orbit had failed.

Korea’s Rocket Development

There are three requirements for successful outer space exploration – the payload, the launch vehicle, and the space center. A payload refers to a space ship or a satellite that is carried out to outer space on a rocket. This is often referred to as the key to outer space development. But the technological linchpin is a launch vehicle. Building a launch vehicle requires very complex technology, because it should be capable of shooting a heavy payload thousands of kilometers into the air, flying stable with precision controlling. There should also be a launch pad and a post-launch control system. Korea has fulfilled two out of the three requirements by developing its own satellite technology and building a space center (Naro Space Center completed in June 2009). Now the last hurdle for the nation is launch vehicle development. Having kicked off the development of a solid propellant-burning rocket in 1990, Korea has steadily acquired the necessary know-how and technology by sending into space the one-stage science rocket KSR-1 in 1993, the two-stage science rocket KSR-II in 1997, and the liquid-fueled KSR-III in August 2002. All these accumulated technologies have gone into developing the Naro. Although the Naro’s first stage liquid fuel rocket was designed by Russia, the knowledge gained through Russia’s participation has resulted in Korea’s independent rocket development.

The Second Launch of the Naro

The failure of the first Naro launch was blamed on the incomplete separation of one of the fairings covering the satellite. Scientists have worked hard to address this problem for the latest launch. It takes about one minute and 30 seconds from the launch to the separation of the first-stage rocket and the satellite from the second-stage rocket. When the 100-kilogram grade STSAT-II is placed securely in orbit, communications devices and other equipment loaded on the science and technology satellite will be activated. The first communication between the satellite and the ground command center at the KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center in Daejeon is scheduled about 13 hours after blastoff. A successful communication link implies the complete success of the Naro’s second launch. Then Korea will be well on its way to developing the KSLV-II, capable of launching a 1.5-ton grade commercial satellite, making Korea one of only a handful of nations possessing their own space launch vehicle technology.