“Project Cosmos?”
Early morning at the Blue House.
Kim Sang-cheol’s gaze stopped on a document, then he turned his head toward Lee Chan-ho.
“Yes. It’s our long-term project for Korea’s space industry. The one you mentioned before…”
“Ah, that one. The reusable launch vehicle experiment?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
In truth, this was something that had already been agreed upon within the government. After all, it had been the Blue House that had instructed them to focus the sixth Nuri launch more on methane engine testing than payload weight.
“Hmm…”
But now that the estimate was actually in front of him, there was no helping the sense of difficulty.
The report demanded 500 billion won for the next, sixth Nuri launch alone. And since a reusable launch vehicle was hardly going to be completed neatly after two experiments, in effect, this budget was…
“It’s infinite, isn’t it? It sounds like they’re basically asking for a blank check.”
“Yes, well… realistically, that’s the case.”
Kim Sang-cheol closed his eyes for a moment and sank into thought.
Korea’s future growth engine, a space power, a technological leap… He tried to understand it as positively as possible, but if he was honest, none of it truly resonated with him.
With that money, they could treat every citizen in the country to another hamburger set. If spent on the near-poor, welfare would improve; if spent on the disabled, mobility rights would improve; if spent on national defense, it would be a blessed rain that would increase the number of applicants for officer and NCO positions. That was what this space budget amounted to.
“Prime Minister, now that I’m actually about to do this, I can’t help but have a very human dilemma. Should we pour water into a bottomless jar, or shouldn’t we?”
“Well, isn’t all research and development originally like that?”
“I’m asking because it feels so vague. Is this really a field Korea should be coveting?”
As if sympathizing with his unease, Lee Chan-ho grinned.
“Mr. President, at times like this, you should think only of the good outcomes.”
“The good outcomes?”
“If Korea succeeds with a reusable launch vehicle, we’ll take a significant portion of the space industry that SpaceX currently monopolizes. We could also launch a Korean-style Starlink. And in the process, how could our missile and precision-strike technology not improve?”
“Isn’t that future a little too rosy?”
“Cowards don’t change the world. Human history has always been changed by mad dreamers.”
“No, Prime Minister, this is a time to be a little more coldheaded…”
Lee Chan-ho smiled broadly.
“Mr. President. We have already been coldheaded for ten years. We coolly concluded that reusable launch vehicles were not feasible technology, so until now we only conducted payload-weight experiments. But as a result of being that coldheaded, haven’t we already reached our limit?”
“…”
“Falcon 9 is the clearest example showing that cost competitiveness is supreme even in the space industry. Please approve the budget as the researchers have requested. And please also establish the institutional procedures so the next administration cannot overturn it.”
The reason Kim Sang-cheol’s worries ran deep was not the immediate budget, but this bill.
Project Cosmos demanded various institutional safeguards so the next administration could not overturn it, and the opposition party’s reaction to that was obvious without even seeing it.
But if it was not written into law, what would unfold was equally obvious.
Someone in a future administration would cut R&D again. In the process, they would turn researchers into a den of corruption. In a Korean industry already concentrated on semiconductors and automobiles, there was no way the space industry would survive… Institutional stability was a right to life for Korea’s space industry.
“Then what about the money? Even if the government creates institutional safeguards and provides support, the most it can help with is around several trillion won.”
“The remaining amount will be invested by corporations and pension funds.”
“Corporations?”
“Yes. Recently, defense stocks have risen considerably, so they have room for paid-in capital increases. Of course, that won’t be enough to cover the entire budget. The chairmen have agreed to put up their personal assets if necessary to cover the shortfall. And to ease the shock to the stock market, the pension funds plan to purchase a considerable portion of the capital increases.”
“Mobilizing pension funds and even the conglomerate heads’ personal fortunes… This is going all in, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We’ll have to scrape together even our souls. Our companies and researchers are quite serious about this field.”
After hesitating for a long while, Kim Sang-cheol reluctantly picked up his pen again.
The richest man on Earth at present was a man who spoke of going to Mars. He was also the first to create reusable launch vehicle technology.
In life, without madness, there is no reaching the goal. It seemed that in any field, if one did not go mad, one could not attain it.
—Swish.
Ending his tangled thoughts, Kim Sang-cheol scrawled his signature.
He smiled bitterly and handed the documents to Lee Chan-ho.
“Cosmos… Very well. Please be sure to make a beautiful flower bloom.”
Lee Chan-ho bowed his head.
“Yes. I will be certain to convey that to the authorities.”
*
—Our next story.
As the opposition party has begun a hunger strike over the failure of the Nuri launch, the National Assembly today passed the “Act on Next-Generation Space Growth,” the so-called Cosmos Act.
The core of the Cosmos Act is that the government will spend a budget on the scale of 10 trillion won over the next ten years. Even if it fails within that period, government officials explain that they intend to continue long-term investment for twenty or thirty years.
The opposition party immediately protested the open-ended budget commitment.
Daehan Party Chairman Jang, who marked his fortieth day of hunger strike today, strongly criticized the administration, saying, “The Kim Sang-cheol administration is now firing hamburgers into space as well,” and, “At a time when people’s livelihoods are already difficult, that money should instead be used to revive the domestic market.”
Daehan Party floor leader Song likewise opposed the move.
Representative Song issued a strong statement of regret on behalf of the party that day and fiercely pushed back, saying, “The ruling party’s legislative rampage has begun again.” Representative Song argued that “Is this why you took a majority of the National Assembly seats?” and claimed that any bill not coordinated with the opposition party was null and void from the outset.
Unlike the atmosphere in the National Assembly, however, voices of jubilation are emerging from related industries.
Director Kim Seok-hun, who led the launch vehicle during the fifth Nuri launch, said in an interview with reporters that day, “I deeply recognize the gravity of the failure of the fifth launch.” At the same time, however, he declared his intention to press ahead, saying, “Reusable launch vehicles are the destiny of the space industry, and succeeding in developing this technology is the true way to make it up to the people.”
Dr. Kim immediately revealed the roadmap for the sixth Nuri launch on the spot, answering, “We will prove it to the people through results.”
Five hundred billion won for a single launch, ten trillion won over ten years, an open-ended budget… How far has the space industry of the Republic of Korea come, and where is it racing toward?
On today’s Newsroom, we will discuss this with Choe Jeong-min, former director of KARI.
Director Choe?
“Yes, hello. I am Choe Jeong-min, former director of KARI.”
—Let’s start with the political side of things. In fact, after the failure of the fifth Nuri launch, many expected the government’s space-related budget to shrink further, but it’s moving in an unexpected direction.
“Yes. The Cosmos Act is a budget that surprised even me.”
—What do you think of the bill?
“Speaking as a scholar, it is something to welcome. In fact, until now, the space budget has had to pay close attention to the government’s mood. After the old Naro failure, the budget for the next experiment was cut drastically. From then on, a bad practice took root in the industry: failure equals budget cuts. Researchers had their immediate livelihoods on the line as well, so they could not attempt challenging experiments.”
—Then I imagine the fifth Nuri launch must have been especially meaningful for you, Director.
“Yes, well, since it ended in failure, I am sorry to the people. But the fact that our methane engine cut through the sky, that the first-stage separation succeeded, and that it endured for thirteen seconds after that—all of it felt like innovation upon innovation.”
—However, some point out that it was a reckless experiment.
“That very recklessness, accumulated over time, is what created Falcon 9. Before Falcon 9, reusable launch vehicles were technology that felt like alien civilization. But now that it has succeeded, it has become the standard of the space industry, hasn’t it? In that sense, the fifth experiment was absolutely not reckless.”
—Yes, I understand its importance. But it is an enormous budget. The opposition party has considerable concerns about that.
“I think those complaints arise because the ruling party, holding a majority of seats, passed it unilaterally. But considering the policies of large-scale R&D cuts from when the opposition party was the ruling party, I believe the opposition should apologize first rather than oppose it.”
—I see. Then returning to the subject, I’d like to discuss the sixth Nuri launch. As soon as the Cosmos Act passed, KARI announced a roadmap. They said they would conduct at least five flight tests before the sixth Nuri launch. What does that mean?
“Yes. I would say a concrete roadmap has finally emerged.”
—Finally emerged?
“That’s right. In fact, after the fifth launch, Korea reached the big picture of developing a reusable launch vehicle, but how it would achieve that remained unclear. But looking at this announcement from the space authorities, the plan is extremely detailed.”
—You’re referring to low-altitude vertical landing?
“That’s right. They intend to start from low altitudes and build up successful data. Like the method China is using now. To speak briefly about our neighboring country, China, which is currently second, has succeeded in low-altitude vertical landing. Based on that data, they’re continuing to raise the altitude.”
—Are you saying we will do the same?
“Yes. Methods of technological development are usually similar. We too will continue to accumulate data at low altitudes and raise our technological capability.”
—Then finally, speaking coldly, KARI announced that at the next sixth launch, “Our methane engine will successfully complete the mission of first-stage separation and re-landing on a barge.” Director, how do you assess the possibility of that?
Dr. Choe Jeong-min answered in a kind yet extremely firm voice.
“Yes. They will succeed. I do not doubt it.”
*
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Rahim.”
“Yes, welcome.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
“We look forward to working with you as well. Haha.”
With CEO Rahim joining us, our sixth Nuri Task Force was finally launched.
The twenty Akash members who joined along with him had impressive backgrounds one and all. Looking purely at their careers, even the KARI doctors could not hold a candle to them. Perhaps because of that, CEO Rahim wrote down a jaw-dropping number on the blank check I handed him…
Would they really earn their keep?
“Chief, I’m back.”
When I returned from Daejeon to Jeonju, Department Head Oh’s narrowed glare welcomed me.
“What’s wrong? I heard the KOSPI hit another record high today. Haha…”
“What good is the stock market hitting a high? A bottomless jar has appeared.”
“If we patch that jar up properly, foreign space agencies will come pouring rice into it. Look at SpaceX.”
“Oh, of course they will. Just like you said, our defense companies all carried out paid-in capital increases as if they had promised each other. The Blue House told the pension funds to buy through block deals so it wouldn’t affect the market.”
Holding the report, I felt strength enter my fist.
Every stake we were buying now was part of the space budget. My heart trembled. In my memory, Korea had never completed a reusable launch vehicle, but perhaps this time would be different.
“Huh? But Chief, why did you sell this?”
While looking over the pension fund portfolio, my gaze stopped on one section.
But Department Head Oh spoke as if it were only natural.
“What’s there to ask? It looked overheated, so I sold. The risk team held several meetings, and there was no disagreement that it was at a high. For the time being, we’re going to start clearing out our KOSDAQ stakes.”