S. Korea allowed to develop solid-fuel space rockets starting Tuesday

한미 미사일지침 개정…우주발사체 고체연료 사용제한 해제

South Korea announced today that it has won U.S. consent to use solid fuel for space launch vehicles.
It's a move that experts say would enable Seoul to launch its first surveillance satellites and accumulate technology to build more powerful missiles.
Arirang News' top office correspendent Kim Min-ji reports.
South Korea can now use solid fuel to launch vehicles into space.
It had not been allowed to before, but effective Tuesday, those restrictions have been lifted following a revision to missile guidelines between South Korea and the U.S.
"All South Korean companies, research institutes and private individuals will be able to freely research, develop, produce and possess various types of launch vehicles without any restrictions, including those driven by solid fuel and hybrid engines." Solid-fuel rockets are faster to launch and cost efficient.
The move is expected to boost the country's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities as it will allow South Korea to launch low orbit spy satellites on solid fuel rockets at any time or place.
The top office said that this, in part, will prepare the country for the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S.
It's also expected to give related industries a boost as the government and private sector can develop solid fuel space rockets.
The change was negotiated over a period of nine months after President Moon Jae-in ordered October last year... that the issue be resolved because the restrictions were hindering development.
"If all goes according to plan, South Korea's intelligence and surveillance capabilities will rapidly improve following the launch of locally made... low-orbit... solid fuel rockets. Also, the revision provides a foundation on which to improve our space infrastructure, which can open a path for the Korean New Deal to expand into space."
The missile guidelines were first drawn up in 1979 to regulate South Korea's missile development.
They were revised most recently in 2017 to get rid of a limit on the payload weight of South Korean ballistic missiles with a range of 800 kilometers.
The top office said that the range limit remains in place but that it can be negotiated "in due time."
When asked whether the revision has any connection to the ongoing defense cost-sharing negotiations,... the top office said it had no relevance and stressed that they did not offer any benefits in return.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.