First Vice Minister of Science and ICT Oh Tae-seog, left, talks about the Danuri lunar orbiter at the ministry's briefing room in Sejong, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT

By Park Jae-hyuk

Danuri, Korea's first domestically-developed lunar orbiter launched into space last Friday, was not only the result of efforts by the government, but also 40 private enterprises that took part in the 236.7 billion won ($182 million) project.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Sunday, six conglomerates and 34 small- and medium-sized enterprises participated in the space project, along with 13 universities and six state-run research institutes.

Contributing to the design, manufacture and testing of Danuri's main body and equipment for observation and analysis, the companies enabled Korea to take a step closer to becoming a powerhouse in the space industry, with the country becoming the seventh nation to undertake a lunar exploration, once the orbiter succeeds in carrying out its operations after cruising through space for about five months.

Korea Aerospace Industries, which played major roles in the development of the Nuri space rocket, manufactured the prototype of the orbiter's structural system and supported its assembly and testing.

Hanwha Group contributed to the Danuri project, as it did for the Nuri project.

Hanwha Corp. manufactured the propulsion system for the lunar orbiter's main body, while Hanwha Systems developed the power supply unit of a high-resolution camera installed in the orbiter.

Others that participated in both the Danuri and Nuri projects include APSI, Hyundai Rotem and several other companies.

APSI developed Danuri's computer and testing equipment, while Hyundai Rotem designed and manufactured the drive mechanism of a lunar exploration rover which will be sent to the moon in the future.

The private sector also contributed to the development of systems for the ground station.

SK Broadband manufactured the large-size, deep-space antenna, while Hancom InSpace developed the software for the ground station's operations.