South Korean rocket becomes first large to lift off from Esrange – then a “bigger American rocket”

Esrange in Kiruna has been ready to launch satellites into Earth orbit ever since beginning of 2023. But rockets have been missing. In Europe, several actors are trying to produce launch vehicles that can meet the demand that exists in the satellite market. But it will not be a European rocket that is first from Sweden.

The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), which operates Esrange, has previously told Ny Teknik that there have been discussions with two rocket suppliers for launches in 2025. They have been secretive about which suppliers and which rockets apply.

In a recently published customer magazine from Dagens industri however, more information emerged. The first rocket will be Korean and shortly afterwards “a larger American” rocket will be launched which has been “used extensively in previous launches from the United States”.

– That's how it is. But there will be more information, it must be a cliffhanger for the time being, says Philip Ohlsson who is responsible for communications at SSC.

Korean Perigee Aerospace says it has plans with Esrange

Despite the information about which countries the rockets come from, Philip Ohlsson still does not want to say which rockets or which supplier applies.

– I can't say more right now actually. In the American market there are a whole bunch, but there are several in other markets as well, says Philip Ohlsson.

That there are many American rockets is true. But there are only a small number of Korean rocket companies. One of them is Perigee Aerospace.

They develop a rocket called the Blue Whale. And in December 2022 they wrote, by his own admissiona partnership agreement with SSC regarding launches of the rocket from Esrange.

Blue Whale is a two-stage rocket that is 21 m tall and can take 170 kg to a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) and 150 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The rocket weighs 1,510 kg without fuel, and the launch mass is 19,800 kg. The rocket is thus refueled with roughly 18,000 kg of fuel. The fuel consists of liquid oxygen and methane.

The rocket matches specifications that have been circulating about the size of the rockets that may be launched from Esrange. And they write straight out on their own website that the rocket will be launched from there. But SSC does not want to confirm the information.

Is the Blue Whale from Perigee the first satellite rocket from Esrange?

– I can neither confirm nor deny. There are several rocket companies in Korea, it is a prominent rocket country as well. I'm not saying anything there yet, says Philip Olsson.

The first launch takes place from a launch pad at sea

Perigee Aerospace has its home base at the Jeju Launch Center. Jeju is a city on the island of Jejudo south of the Korean peninsula. The company has so far postponed sounding rockets and completed tests to be able to land standing up in the future with the rocket for satellites, like Falcon 9 from Space X.

The company also has constructed a floating platform which should enable launches at sea. And it is at sea that the first test of the satellite rocket will take place sometime in 2024.

If it is Blue Whale that will be the first satellite-carrying rocket from Swedish soil, then this is also consistent with previous information from SSC.

– Before it goes up from Esrange, it has flown somewhere else first, Philip Påhlsson, who is program manager for satellite and test operations at Esrange at SSC, told Ny Teknik earlier.

On Perigee's website there are graphs showing how much mass can be brought into orbit from two different space bases, Esrange and Jeju. They also show that the rocket could come in two variants, one with a reusable first stage. Depending on whether the first stage can be reused, the rocket can take different amounts of payload into space.

Previously, Philip Påhlsson told Ny Teknik that it is not certain that the first launch from Sweden will carry satellites. So whether Blue Whale will be the first larger rocket from Swedish soil, and whether it will then fly empty or with payload, remains to be seen.

Before it is potentially used in Sweden in 2025, it must also carry out its first flight from the sea platform. In an animation of how the launch is supposed to go, you can see how the rocket is supposed to land again.