Launch of Innospace's Hanbit-TLV rocket called off due to technical glitch

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Wednesday that it will invest 350 billion won ($273 million) to build a rocket launch site, which will be exclusive to private companies. 

The launch site will be within the Naro Space Center, a spaceport in South Jeolla Province's Goheung County, operated by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. 

There are no rocket launch sites in South Kore for private companies to experiment and develop their products, which is why Korean rocket startup Innospace had to travel to Brazil.

But the launch of Innospace's Hanbit-TLV test rocket at the Alcantara Launch Center in northern Brazil was called off at the last minute due to a glitch in the external safety management system.  

The test launch has now been postponed indefinitely.

Hanbit-TLV is a 16.3-meter single-stage rocket designed to verify the performance of a thrust rocket engine. The rocket was scheduled to be fired to an altitude of 100 kilometers in a suborbital test.

The 15-ton hybrid engine placed atop the rocket was also developed by Innospace. 

The Sejong-based startup’s goal is to develop the country’s first private commercial satellite launcher, the Hanbit-Nano.

Write to See-Eun Lee at see@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.