[Startup Street] Space launch vehicles, quantum computers… K-startups pioneering “uncharted territory”

Park Jae-hong, CEO of Unastella, who took the stage as the first speaker, said, “We will launch a small experimental launch vehicle next year.” He explained, “We have accelerated development and successfully completed a performance test earlier this year in which a self-developed combustor was fired on the ground,” adding, “We plan to build rockets at lower cost by using batteries and motors like an electric vehicle.” Founded in 2022, Unastella has become the first private company in Korea to enter the development of a crewed space launch vehicle. To build a launch vehicle capable of crewed spaceflight up to an altitude of 100 km, it is designing and developing its own engine based on an electric motor pump-cycle engine system. It has also set an ambitious goal of entering the space tourism industry pioneered by Elon Musk’s U.S. SpaceX.