Technology for spacecraft to reenter Earth after completing exploration of the Moon or Mars remains an undeveloped field in Korea. This is because spacecraft must withstand extreme heating during atmospheric reentry. To address this, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea are pursuing development of thermal protection systems for spacecraft during atmospheric entry through the Space Challenge Project.

In 2022, following selection for this project, the research team led by Professor Seongman Choi of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), College of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering, which is developing a thermal protection system for spacecraft, received an excellent evaluation in Phase 1 and was selected to continue into Phase 2.

In Phase 1, Professor Choi’s team conducted, for two years, the country’s first research on sample-return Earth reentry vehicles carrying samples obtained from space exploration of asteroids and similar bodies.

Through this research, they successfully developed and tested thermal protection materials that protect samples under the extreme high-temperature conditions encountered during Earth reentry.

Notably, they succeeded in demonstrating the durability of the thermal protection system through experiments conducted at the German research institute IRS (Institut für Raumfahrt Systeme) at a heat flux of 5.60 MW/m2 for 100 seconds.

Building on the Phase 1 results, Professor Choi’s team will receive 1 billion KRW in funding from the Ministry of Science and ICT for two additional years through 2025 to pursue further research aimed at practical application. 

Professor Choi’s team plans to conduct systems-integration research to deploy the ultra-high-temperature thermal protection system developed in Phase 1 on launch vehicles such as the Nuri rocket, carried out in collaboration with Perigee Aerospace and others.

Professor Seongman Choi said, 'Through the Phase 1 research project, we developed thermal protection materials that protect samples under extreme high-temperature conditions and also demonstrated their durability.' He added, 'Based on these results, we will strive in Phase 2 to apply the technology to Korean launch vehicles and thereby create a new turning point for the domestic space industry.'