Solid-fuel space launch vehicle
South Korea's solid‑fuel space launch vehicle, commonly abbreviated GYŪB, is an orbital booster under development by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD). It is based on solid propellant stages, with a liquid-fuel post‑boost stage, designed to deploy small satellites—particularly synthetic aperture radar (SAR) reconnaissance payloads—into low Earth orbit as part of the country's independent space-based surveillance capability.
ADD plans the first launch of a complete version of the launcher, capable of placing a one-ton satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit, in 2027. By 2032, the military expects to have a version capable of placing 7 tonnes into a sun-synchronous orbit and 3.7 tonnes into a geostationary transfer orbit.
Technical details
The rocket has three solid‑fuel stages, followed by a liquid‑fueled fourth "post‑boost" stage to enable precise payload deployment. The first stage is mentioned to produce "a thrust that is one-and-a-half times stronger than North Korea’s solid-fuel engines", or around 245 tones. The second stage produces 75 tons of thrust. The GYŪB‑TV2 version, launched in December 2023, had an estimated take-off thrust of 170 tonnes with the capacity to place 700 kilograms in low orbit.| Version | Year | 1st stage | 2nd stage | 3rd stage | 4th stage | Thrust | Payload to sun-synchronous orbit | Payload to geostationary transfer orbit |
| GYŪB TV2 | 2023 | Active | - | Active | Active | 170 | .7 | |
| GYŪB | 2027 | Active | Active | Active | Active | 1 | ||
| unnamed | 2032 | 7 | 3.7 |
Flight history
Two suborbital launches of a version called TV1 , comprising only the last three stages, were carried out in 2022 from Anhueng. TV2 is an incomplete version of the final launch vehicle, consisting of only the 1st, 3rd, and 4th stages. It was launched on December 4, 2023, from a barge off Jeju Island.- March 2022: GYŪB‑TV1 ''- First suborbital test using a live stage 2, a inert stage 3, and a live PBS.
- December 2022: GYŪB‑TV1 -'' Second suborbital flight with live stage 2, 3 and PBS.
- December 4, 2023: GYŪB‑TV2 ''-'' First orbital launch, using stage 1, stage 3 and PBS, successfully placing a 100 kg SAR satellite into a 650 km orbit.