Perigee Aerospace is a

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developer and manufacturer of

orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbitof ...

and

sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

s located in

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The company was formally established in 2018, but work began in 2012, initially with the launch of sounding rockets. , Perigee Aerospace employed 30 people. It develops the small orbital rocket Blue Whale 1. As of 2019, the company also planned to develop a larger rocket.

Vehicles

Blue Whale 1

The two-stage Blue Whale 1 is a partially reusable orbital rocket in development. Launching from a sea launch pad in Jeju space center in

, it can deliver up to 170 kg to a

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

with an altitude of 500 km. The maiden flight was planned for July 2020 but has been delayed several times. Perigee Aerospace hopes to build the capacity to launch up to 40 Blue Whale 1 rockets per year at a price of less than US$3 million. The orbital maiden flight of Blue Whale 1 was expected to take place in late 2024, preceded by a suborbital test flight scheduled for May 2024. The suborbital launch is now planned for 2025.

Sounding Rockets

Started in 2012, Perigee Aerospace began by developing and launching numerous sounding rockets for meteorological research for the Korean government. In 2018 and 2019 the company received two rounds of venture capital backing from some of South Korea's leading technology investors including

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

Venture Investments and LB Investment (a subsidiary of LG) to support the development of Blue Whale.The company is also supported by

KAIST KAIST (originally the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is a national university, national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the ...

, South Korea's top technical research institution. According to an interview posted on the website of Expedition College in March 2020, an educational program by Dong-A Science, Perigee Aerospace was planning to launch a suborbital

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...

developed in collaboration with

. This sounding rocket, designated Blue Whale 0.1, was launched on 29 December 2021 in order to validate the engines of the Blue Whale 1 rocket. The flight was terminated shortly after takeoff due to unexpectedly strong winds. Third flight of Blue Whale 0.1 took place 24 March 2022 from

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

. It was suborbital flight test and it was successful.

References

External links

Official website Perigee Aerospace
{{Orbital launch systems Private spaceflight companies Aerospace companies of South Korea Rocket engine manufacturers of South Korea Companies based in Daejeon South Korean brands

Vehicles

Blue Whale 1

Sounding Rockets

See also

References

External links