South Korea aims to land homegrown rover on moon by 2032

- KERI, space robotics startup team up to develop key electric drive technology for lunar rover

- Domestic components to undergo first space validation on Nuri rocket's fifth launch in October

Dr. Lee Ji-young poses with a rover motor and power conversion device. [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute]

"We will send a lunar exploration rover built with our own technology to the surface of the moon in 2032."

South Korean researchers are pushing to domestically produce space-grade motors and drive components that the country currently relies entirely on imports to supply. They will also attempt the first in-space validation of homegrown parts through the fifth launch of the Nuri rocket, scheduled for Oct. 7.

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, known as KERI, said Sunday that a research team led by Dr. Lee Ji-young of its aerospace mobility propulsion research team has partnered with space robotics startup Unmanned Exploration Lab, or UEL, to develop electric drive technology for a lunar exploration rover and pursue space validation in earnest.

The government has set 2032 as its target for a lunar mission. Rover technology capable of operating reliably in extreme conditions is essential for conducting actual exploration activities on the lunar surface — going well beyond simply reaching the moon.

At present, space-grade actuators — the core drive components of domestic space systems — are sourced entirely from overseas. A lack of collaboration between rover system developers and key component developers has also been cited as an obstacle to technological self-reliance.

KERI is combining its in-house component design capabilities with UEL's experience in space robot system development to pursue that independence.

The research team is developing electric motors and power conversion devices capable of operating stably in the extreme conditions of the lunar surface — temperatures reaching up to 125 degrees Celsius, high vacuum and fine dust. The goal is to enable a rover weighing no more than 25 kilograms to climb a 10-degree incline and travel at 4 meters per second.

To that end, the team is also building a hardware-in-the-loop simulation system that recreates a virtual space environment on computer and verifies component performance in real time. The plan is to raise technical completeness by repeatedly validating performance across a range of operating conditions.

The fifth Nuri launch, set for October, is expected to serve as the first proving ground for establishing the reliability of domestically made space components.

A rendering of the lunar exploration rover being co-developed by KERI and UEL. [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute]

KERI will provide technical support for the in-space validation of some components being pursued by UEL, including control boards. Test results and data obtained in actual space will be fed back into ground-based research, with plans to expand the scope of validation to cover the entire electric drive system, including motors.

"Space heritage" refers to the documented record of a component or piece of equipment having functioned normally in an actual space environment. It is a key element in establishing the reliability needed to apply hardware to future space missions such as lunar exploration.

While analyzing the input-output characteristics and drive performance of space-grade motors and inverters based on actual measurement data, the research team identified characteristics requiring further examination. Over the following roughly five months, the team conducted technical consultations with leading manufacturers in the relevant field to clarify those characteristics.

The significance of this research lies not simply in replacing imported components, but in laying the groundwork for technological self-reliance — one in which domestic research institutions and space companies collaborate from design through performance verification and on to in-space validation.

The research team aims to land a rover incorporating KERI's technology on the lunar surface before 2032, starting with the fifth Nuri launch.

"I started from scratch at a time when there was virtually no domestic space component ecosystem, with the determination to create something from nothing," Lee said. "In the early days of the research, I was treated like an outsider because there were no precedents to refer to, but I built a network of collaborators by personally seeking out space experts across the country."

"We will absolutely send a rover carrying KERI's own technology to the surface of the moon in 2032, and open a true era of space mobility for South Korea," she said.

nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com