Korea Aerospace Research Institute unveils Nuri rocket engine that exploded during testing

The 75-ton second-stage Nuri rocket engine at the moment of explosion. [Korea Aerospace Research Institute]

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Wednesday it will put on public display a 75-ton Nuri rocket engine destroyed during a test in 2020, exhibiting it at the Space Science Museum's artifact gallery at the Naro Space Center.

Before the Nuri rocket's launch, the institute manufactured a total of 17 75-ton engines — 14 for the first stage and three for the second stage — and conducted 152 combustion tests totaling 15,091 seconds. The engine going on display bears witness to the intensity of the development process through which South Korea built its own independent launch vehicle technology through repeated testing and verification.

The engine is the 75-ton second-stage Nuri engine (17A) that exploded on May 13, 2020, inside a vacuum chamber at the high-altitude combustion test facility at the Naro Space Center.

A 75-ton Nuri rocket engine damaged during testing on display at the Space Science Museum's artifact gallery at the Naro Space Center. [Korea Aerospace Research Institute]

Immediately after the accident, the institute collected all engine debris, identified the cause of the explosion and incorporated the findings into improvements to the engine design and testing procedures. That analysis of failure and accumulation of technical knowledge laid the groundwork for the Nuri rocket's subsequent successful launches. The institute determined that the damaged engine debris holds sufficient value as a record of South Korea's space launch vehicle development and as an educational resource for future generations, and decided to exhibit it at the Space Science Museum's artifact gallery.

The exhibit preserves the damage from the explosion as closely as possible so that visitors can see the actual traces of the development tests. However, the turbopump — one of the engine's components — is being kept separately for follow-up research, and a model has been used in its place to maintain the engine's overall appearance.

Korea Aerospace Research Institute Director Lee Sang-cheol said the Space Science Museum is "a place where visitors can experience firsthand, through actual exhibits, the process of overcoming failure and adversity to successfully develop a space launch vehicle independently." He added that the institute would work to develop the museum into "a space that offers a broad view of the history, present and future of space launch vehicles and South Korea's space development."

nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com