On May 28th at 11:50 p.m., a small rocket was launched in Bongnae-myeon, Goheung-gun, Jeonnam. It was the small launch vehicle "UNA EXPRESS-I" developed by the space startup Unastella.
Although it was smaller than the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Korea Launch Vehicle (KSLV), the significance of the UNA EXPRESS launch was great. Park Jae-hong, the CEO, said during a meeting at Unastella's office in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 26th, "A space launch vehicle created by a private corporation in Korea successfully launched for the first time on Korean territory."
The Korea Launch Vehicle was developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) with national funding, and INNOSPACE also succeeded in testing a private space launch vehicle, but the location was Brazil. It represented a meaningful step in the era of new space, characterized by private-led space development.
CEO Park Jae-hong graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University and received a master's degree from the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Technical University of Berlin, where he researched next-generation rocket engines at the German Aerospace Center. He refers to himself as a rocket engine enthusiast. After working at the domestic space startup Perigee Aerospace, he founded Unastella in 2022.
The UNA EXPRESS-I, which successfully conducted this test launch, is 9.45 meters long and weighs 2 tons. Strictly speaking, it is not a space launch vehicle. The goal of this launch was not to reach the altitude of 100 km, which is considered the boundary of space. Unastella focused on confirming whether its self-developed engine operates correctly rather than the altitude. Unastella developed an engine with a thrust of 5 tons, which is the force that pushes the rocket upward.
CEO Park explained, "We are developing a rocket engine that incorporates the world's largest electric motor pump," adding, "With the success of this test launch, the verification of the combustion chamber with actual ignition alongside the electric motor pump has been somewhat completed."
Space launch vehicles emit high-temperature, high-pressure combustion gases from the combustion chamber to fly upward. At this time, a pump is needed to inject the oxidizer and fuel into the combustion chamber at high pressure. Existing launch vehicles use turbo pumps that burn their own fuel to generate high pressure, but Unastella has replaced this with an electric motor pump.
Unastella plans to develop a launch vehicle aimed at suborbital flight as its next step. The company announced that it aims to develop the vehicle as soon as possible and increase the target altitude for the next launch to the boundary of space. CEO Park noted, "This time, all 19 employees completed all preparations on our own in Goheung over the course of two months," and added, "It was meaningful as a rehearsal for launching a larger spacecraft in terms of pre-launch preparations, the actual launch process, and emergency situations."
CEO Park mentioned that he would be hiring more staff for the next suborbital launch. He stated, "We need to have more personnel than we do now for the suborbital launch," and added, "We are preparing for recruitment with the thought of selecting each person as an elite agent." He continued, "The advantage of our company is that you can directly see the problem-solving and goal-achieving process," and stated, "We are looking for individuals who can quickly propose solutions when problems arise, rather than focusing on their own careers."
Looking at the global launch vehicle market, Unastella's challenge is not easy. SpaceX maintains a monopoly in the global launch vehicle market, and investment has also slowed. CEO Park explained, "We will optimize resource allocation and utilization by distinguishing between what we need to do, what we can do well, and what can be outsourced."
Although Unastella has conducted test launches of its launch vehicles, it currently has no engine manufacturing facility. The company completed its launch vehicle using only testing equipment. CEO Park stated, "In the long term, we do plan to secure our own factory, but for speed and efficiency, part of our identity as Unastella is to present ourselves as a fabless corporation" – a term referring to companies specializing only in design without production.
CEO Park also requested active support from the government. He noted, "SpaceX also went through a period when it had no choice but to rely on government support in the beginning," and added that there needs to be more long-term projects for launch vehicle companies to participate in and funds to invest in the new space sector.
He also proposed a "space sandbox" – a version of the 'regulatory sandbox' that allows practical testing while imposing restrictions on time, place, and scale to help new technologies and services enter the market. CEO Park explained, "When preparing for a launch, various regulations regarding not only ground but also airspace, territorial waters, and frequencies can become obstacles," and stated, "If these regulations could be relaxed, even for just a few days before the launch, it would greatly help us focus more on technological development."