hankyoreh

South Korea plans to spend 3.6 trillion won over the next decade to secure its own satellite and rocket technologies, the government said Wednesday.

The 10-year space development and promotion plan aims to build satellites and rockets with minimum outside help and to develop the country's knowhow and infrastructure in the aerospace sector.

South Korea has sent into orbit six multipurpose, observation and scientific satellites aboard foreign rockets since the 1990s, with two still in operation. It is currently developing six more satellites.

"In satellite technology, the space development plan calls for longer operational life and more public-demand oriented machines compared to the past," a spokesman for the Science Ministry said.

The money will also be channeled into gaining knowledge of how to build an indigenous rocket able to take satellites into space.

The state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute is currently building the two-stage Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV1) with Russian help. The rocket will be launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung late next year.

The launch is important because it would be the first time for Korea to launch a satellite from inside the country. Previous launches were carried out abroad. It is expected that up to 3,600 engineers will take part in the satellite and rocket development endeavor.

The plan is a continuation of the nation's basic space development plan for 1996-2007. In that 10-year period, the government spent 1.7 trillion won to jump-start the country's nascent aerospace technology.

Seoul considers aerospace a vital future growth industry and has spent more than 3 percent of the country's research and development budget on space science since 2006.

SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap)