Sangmi Cha, Josh Smith

GOHEUNG/SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is pushing for a space rocket that can be made domestically. This will bring a boost to its national prestige and also make it a good business opportunity.

Thursday’s successful test of the Nuri Rocket is an important milestone for companies such as Hanwha Aerospace which manufactures rocket boosters, and Korea Aerospace Industries which oversees the construction of the rocket.

“Hanwha built the engine, but KAI was responsible for assembling about 300,000 components of the rocket,” said Choi Gwang-shik, an analyst with Korea Investment & Securities.

“And these parts came from myriads companies, such as the shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries. It would be a huge benefit to all the companies involved.

Around 300 South Korean businesses were involved in creating the 200-ton three-stage Nuri. Yong Hongtaek was the first vice minister of science, technology and innovation.

Officials said that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute plans to continue testing Nuri, before it can carry a payload. However, KARI is looking to work more closely with one firm for assembly and launch, much like the partnership between NASA and SpaceX in the United States.

“As five more launches are planned in the future, we plan to transfer all technology eventually to the private sector,” Yong stated.

Although South Korea’s space program is behind many countries, such as Japan and China, it seems eager to catch up and has received new funding from the government.

South Korea invested approximately 2 trillion won ($1.70 Billion) in Nuri’s development project in March 2010. Meanwhile, the annual investment in space projects increased more than twice to 616 billion won ($524 Million) by 2020, up from 305Billion in 2013, according to the National Assembly Research Service.

Moon Jae In pointed out the rocket to be an example of efforts by the domestic defence and aerospace industries, which he hopes to boost.

The government will foster the private space sector to make South Korea “a space powerhouse,” he told the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition this week.

Space efforts can also benefit manufacturers of navigation and surveillance satellites as well as others.

Koo Hyukchae, a minister spokesperson, said the government intends to spend 3.7 trillion won (3.13 billion) in order to create a Korea Positioning System that will include eight satellites. The system will be used to provide accurate information necessary to help develop technologies such as self driving cars.

He told Reuters that he believes the industry will benefit from this.

South Korea will increase its space budget by 4% to 640 billion won (544 million USD) next year.

The defense acquisition agency announced in August that it will invest approximately 1.6 trillion won (1.4 billion dollars) over the next ten years into the domestic satellite sector.

Hanwha Aerospace shares, which make everything, from howitzers and rocket engines to surveillance technology, has seen 73% growth in the past year.

A spokesperson for the firm stated that they will be focusing on quality engines to support future Nuri rocket test launches. He also said that there was an approximate investment goal of around a trillion won (849 million dollars) in space by 2030.

($1 =1,175.8800 won).