Kim Seung-youn, chair of Hanwha Group, visited Hanwha Systems' Jeju Space Center, the country's largest private satellite production hub, and laid out Hanwha's vision and ambitions for space.
On the 8th, Chair Kim visited Hanwha Systems' Jeju Space Center in Hawon-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju. This is the first time Chair Kim has visited a Hanwha Systems business sites. Present were executives including Vice Chair Kim Dong-Kwan, who oversees Hanwha Group's space business.
That day, Chair Kim wrote in the Jeju Space Center guestbook, "Even when it is difficult, taking the road we must take—that is Hanwha's mission. Together with the Jeju Space Center, let's rise as a leading corporations that protects Korea."
The Jeju Space Center is the largest private satellite production facility in Korea. On a 30,000-square-meter site (about 9,075 pyeong), the building has a total floor area of 11,400 square meters (about 3,450 pyeong). After about 20 months of construction, it was completed in Dec. last year. About 100 billion won was invested in facilities alone. As Korea's southernmost region, Jeju offers optimal satellite launch angles and stable drop zones, minimizing the physical distance between satellite production and launch.
At the Jeju Space Center, up to eight satellites per month and as many as 100 per year can be produced. Starting this year, it will begin full-scale mass production of satellites such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites used for Earth observation.
That day, wearing a cleanroom suit, Chair Kim toured the Jeju Space Center clean room. The clean room houses a space environment test facility that simulates the vacuum of space, cryogenic temperatures (-180 degrees), and extreme heat (150 degrees), as well as an electromagnetic compatibility test facility that verifies safe and normal operation in high-power electromagnetic environments.
Meeting employees, Chair Kim said, "Even when it is difficult, taking the road we must take—that is Hanwha's mission," adding, "Breaking through obstacles so that the satellites we build observe Earth's climate change, protect security, and contribute to a better life for humanity is the true meaning and value of business that Hanwha pursues." Kim encouraged them further, saying, "Every drop of sweat you shed will be the foundation that lifts Korea into the world's top five space powers."
According to Hanwha Group, Chair Kim has dreamed of the space industry since the 1980s, when the company produced explosives. Over the years, Kim has said multiple times, "To enhance Korea's national competitiveness, Hanwha must launch the satellites it builds itself." This aspiration led Vice Chair Kim in 2021 to launch "Space Hub," which oversees the broader space industry. Now Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems, following the successful private-led launch of the Nuri rocket, are expanding their space business into areas such as lunar orbiters and lunar landers.
Chair Kim said, "The Jeju Space Center is not just an establishment, but the present and future of Hanwha's grand dream for space," adding, "Space opens a path only to those who do not stop challenging it."