Hanwha Aerospace 完成順天工廠，打造太空運輸樞紐

Hanwha Aerospace's Suncheon plant. (Photo: Hanwha Aerospace)

Hanwha Aerospace said Nov. 4 that it held a completion ceremony for its Suncheon plant, a space launch vehicle manufacturing center located in the Yulchon First General Industrial Complex in Suncheon, South Korea.

The Suncheon plant covers 59,504 square meters (18,000 pyeong) and will integrate and assemble major components of space launch vehicles. It will also assemble and conduct performance verification of the 75-ton-class engines and the first, second and third stages of the sixth Nuri rocket, scheduled for launch next year. The facility will manufacture next-generation launch vehicles, reusable technology demonstrators and space launch vehicles being developed independently by Hanwha.

Hanwha plans to establish the Suncheon plant as a key hub for the commercial space economy by producing critical launch vehicle components, including methane engines and propellant tanks. The company aims to develop the facility into a new center for the space transportation industry ecosystem and establish a sustainable cooperation model with its suppliers.

In July, Hanwha Group announced plans to invest 55 trillion won in the aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI) industries by 2040 to build integrated space infrastructure spanning launch vehicles, satellite networks and defense AI. Hanwha Aerospace will invest 23 trillion won in space transportation services. The ability to manufacture and supply launch vehicles reliably is an essential foundation for competitiveness in space transportation services.

"The Suncheon plant is a critical infrastructure asset for South Korea's transition to a private-sector-led New Space era," said Kim Sun, head of Hanwha Aerospace's space business.