Solid-fuel space launch vehicle
South Korean orbital launch vehicle
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Mir (Korean: 미르)[1][2][3], commonly referred to by the abbreviation GYŪB (Korean: Goche Yeonlyo Uju Balsache or 고체연료 우주발사체), is an orbital booster developed by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD). It is based on solid propellant stages, with a liquid-fuel post‑boost stage (PBS), 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.[4]
| Function | Small-lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Agency for Defense Development |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Size | |
| Height | - |
| Diameter | - |
| Mass | - |
| Stages | 4 |
| Launch history | |
| Status | In development |
| Launch sites |
|
| Total launches | 3 (test vehicles) |
| Success(es) | 3 (test vehicles) |
| First flight | 30 March 2022 (TV1) |
| Last flight | 4 December 2023 (TV2) (most recent) |
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.[4][5]
Technical details
The rocket has three solid‑fuel stages, followed by a liquid‑fueled fourth "post‑boost" stage (PBS) to enable precise payload deployment.[6][7][8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11][6]
| Version | Year | 1st stage | 2nd stage | 3rd stage | 4th stage | Thrust (t) | Payload to sun-synchronous orbit (t) | Payload to geostationary transfer orbit (t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 (Test Vehicle 1), comprising only the last three stages, were carried out in 2022 from Anhueng.[6] 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.[6][7][9][11]
- March 2022: GYŪB‑TV1 (1) - First suborbital test using a live stage 2, a inert stage 3, and a live PBS.[6]
- December 2022: GYŪB‑TV1 (1)- Second suborbital flight with live stage 2, 3 and PBS.[6]
- December 4, 2023: GYŪB‑TV2 - First orbital launch, using stage 1, stage 3 and PBS, successfully placing a 100 kg SAR satellite ("Doory‑Sat" built by Hanwha Systems) into a 650 km orbit.[6][7][9][11]