Hanwha Aerospace starts operations at Korea’s largest private space launch vehicle production base

[Financial News] Hanwha Aerospace has established Korea’s largest private space launch vehicle production hub in Suncheon, Jeonnam. With an integrated manufacturing facility capable of producing everything from national space launch vehicles, including Nuri (KSLV-II), to launch vehicles it develops itself, the company is expected to accelerate its entry into the global space transportation market.
Hanwha Aerospace said it held a completion ceremony for its “Suncheon Plant,” a space launch vehicle manufacturing center, on the 4th at the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Suncheon, Jeonnam-Gwangju. Some 300 people attended, including Min Hyeong-bae, special mayor of the integrated Jeonnam-Gwangju region; Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Kim Mun-su and Hwang Jeong-a; Kwon Hyeon-jun, deputy head of the Korea AeroSpace Administration; and Suncheon Mayor Son Hun-mo.
Built on a site of about 18,000 pyeong, the Suncheon Plant will handle the integration and assembly of key space launch vehicle components, as well as performance testing. Assembly of the vehicle’s first, second and third stages and performance testing will take place there, along with work on the 75-ton-class engines used in Nuri (KSLV-II) No. 6, scheduled to launch in 2027.
The plant is also expected to produce KSLV-III, reusable-technology demonstrators and the space launch vehicle Hanwha Aerospace is developing on its own. The company plans to build up its capacity in stages to produce key launch vehicle components, including methane engines and propellant tanks.
Hanwha Aerospace aims to enter the global space transportation market by 2029 using a launch vehicle it develops itself. In 2033, it will begin commercial launch services for Nuri (KSLV-II) and KSLV-III.
In the longer term, the company plans to provide space transportation services across a range of orbits, from very low Earth orbit (VLEO) to Mars. It aims to supply launch vehicles tailored to customers’ payload sizes and objectives, from small satellites to space data centers.
The plant’s completion is also aligned with Hanwha Group’s strategy to vertically integrate its space business. The group plans to build a value chain spanning the entire space sector, from launch vehicle development and manufacturing to space transportation, satellite communications and data utilization.
Hanwha Group previously announced plans to invest a total of 55 trillion won in the aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI) industries by 2040. Of that amount, Hanwha Aerospace plans to invest about 23 trillion won in space transportation services.
At the completion ceremony, Hanwha Aerospace also held a “Win-Win Cooperation Vision Declaration Ceremony” with 40 partner companies involved in launch vehicle manufacturing. The initiative aims to strengthen cooperation with companies involved in developing Nuri (KSLV-II), KSLV-III and Hanwha Aerospace’s own launch vehicles, and thereby boost the competitiveness of Korea’s space industry ecosystem.
Launch vehicles bring together technologies and expertise from a range of fields, including engines, propulsion systems, structures and electronic equipment. To build competitiveness, it is essential not only to strengthen individual companies’ technological capabilities but also to foster growth across the industry ecosystem. Hanwha Aerospace plans to develop the Suncheon Plant into a new hub for the space transportation industry ecosystem and, on that basis, realize a sustainable New Space cooperation model in the Republic of Korea.
Kim Seon, head of Hanwha Aerospace’s space business, said, “The Suncheon Plant is critical infrastructure for the Republic of Korea to leap forward into an era of privately led New Space. We will work with domestic space companies to strengthen our technological competitiveness and build a foundation for the Republic of Korea’s space industry to compete in global markets.”

Jung Won-il, Staff Writer | [email protected]