Hanwha Aerospace begins assembly of reusable rocket demonstrator
Hanwha Aerospace · Korea Aerospace Research Institute
Hanwha Aerospace started assembling a KARI-led reusable rocket demonstrator aimed at a 2028 vertical takeoff and landing test.
what happened
Hanwha Aerospace began final assembly of a reusable technology demonstrator under a Korea Aerospace Research Institute-led project, with Vitzro Nextech and Hanyang ENG also participating, the company said. The vehicle stands 12.2 meters tall and 1.5 meters in diameter, uses a single throttleable staged-combustion-cycle turbopump engine, and is designed for a 2028 flight test that would take it to 500 meters altitude in about 90 seconds before a controlled vertical landing. A Hanwha Aerospace official said securing reusable launch vehicle technology is "an essential task for growing into a 'Korean SpaceX.'"
why it matters
South Korea's launch industry has so far flown only expendable vehicles; a working reuse demonstrator would be the first concrete step toward a domestically reusable first stage, which Hanwha says it wants to fold into a next-generation launch vehicle in the mid-2030s. It is also a bet that Korea's government-anchored launch programs can absorb the same reuse economics that reshaped the US and Chinese markets.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Research Institute
- Category
- launch
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-30
- Published
- 2026-09-30 13:14 UTC