The Korea AeroSpace Administration announced plans to produce an additional unit of the Nuri Korea Space Launch Vehicle, and to improve the satellite cover fairing in preparation for a launch of two defense test satellites at an inclined orbit in 2028.

The state agency announced the Nuri heritage project plan on Friday worth 157-point-eight billion won, or around 115 million U.S. dollars, which aims to bridge a five-year period between the end of the sixth Nuri launch in 2027 and a planned next-generation vehicle launch after 2032.

According to the agency, a task force that had looked for ways to vitalize the industry decided on the principle that locally developed satellites must be launched by a domestic vehicle and to adopt a system to purchase launch services after 2029.

An official from the agency said the budget from this year should go toward the project for production to begin next year and for the launch to take place in 2028, adding that the agency and the science ministry are pushing to exempt the preliminary feasibility study.

Separately, the agency said it intends to develop the reusable launch vehicle by 2035 so as not to fall behind in the global space industry.