KARI - Korea Aerospace Research institute

An unmanned spaceplane is a reusable vehicle that is launched into low Earth orbit by a rocket, performs missions, such as Earth observation, while in orbit, and then returns to Earth by gliding like an aircraft. KARI initiated a three-year institutional project in 2019 titled “Spaceplane Configuration and Fundamental Technology Study,” and since 2023, has been pursuing a six-year national program on “Development of Core Technologies for Spaceplanes and Ground Testing for Reentry Environments.”
The core technology program consists of four subprojects covering spaceplane configuration design, hypersonic aerodynamics, aerothermal heating, optimal reentry trajectory design, automatic glide and landing control, thermal protection system (TPS) design, and high-temperature structural and subsystem engineering. The program includes ground-based testing across diverse flight conditions—from hypersonic reentry to subsonic landing—and glide-landing tests using subscale flight vehicles. The resulting technologies will support the development of Earth return capsules and Korean unmanned reusable spaceplanes.

The unmanned spaceplane is designed to be carried aboard the NURI launch vehicle as a payload, execute its mission in low Earth orbit, and return to land on a designated test runway. Planned missions include Earth observation., This includes microgravity experiments, such as biological studies on plant growth and advanced materials research under microgravity conditions enabled by the elimination of buoyant forces. During reentry, experiments will measure aerodynamic heating and ablation using sensors, such as thermocouple pyrometers.
Operating at a mission altitude of 300 km, the unmanned spaceplane must be designed to meet NURI’s payload constraints—under 4,800 kg in weight, no wider than 5 m, and no longer than 7 m. It reenters Earth's atmosphere at an initial velocity of 7,000 m/s and is intended to perform a runway landing using glide flight.

Technology demonstrators for spaceplanes, as seen in international cases, undergo full-scale and model-based testing. These demonstrator vehicles may be launched into orbital or suborbital trajectories to validate a range of technologies, including communication systems and aerodynamic performance. Given that the NURI launch vehicle has a sufficiently large payload capacity to accommodate small unmanned spaceplanes, Korea can conduct such missions independently, without relying on overseas launch providers.
Through this spaceplane technology program, KARI anticipates not only developing reusable unmanned spaceplanes but also securing the foundational technologies needed for future space missions, including planetary exploration transporters and scramjet-powered hypersonic aircraft. The technologies for hypersonic aerothermal analysis and thermal protection system (TPS) design—critical for atmospheric reentry—are applicable across all space disciplines that involve returning to Earth. By applying these technologies to space vehicle design, KARI expects to establish the groundwork for basic research applicable to a wide range of future space vehicles.