Camera modules from LG Innotek (011070) and battery packs from LG Energy Solution (373220) will be sent into space aboard Nuri, South Korea's homegrown space launch vehicle. LG (003550) plans to verify the performance of the components in space as it pursues entry into a space industry projected to be worth 1,500 trillion won.
LG Science Park said on the 6th that it will place five components made by group affiliates on a Nuri cube satellite, working with Unmanned Exploration Laboratory, a developer of lunar exploration rovers. The components are a camera module from LG Innotek, a battery pack from LG Energy Solution, and a power module, an attitude control actuator and a satellite communications antenna from LG Electronics (066570). It is the first time LG has carried out component testing in space.
The five components will be carried on the fifth Nuri rocket, which the Korea AeroSpace Administration will launch on the 7th from the Naro Space Center in Goheung County, Jeollanam-do. They will be placed at an altitude of 570 kilometers and undergo performance testing for 60 days. The camera module will photograph the skies above the Korean Peninsula and transmit the data, while the battery pack will supply power and collect status information. The power module and attitude control actuator will manage the satellite's power and orientation. The antenna will handle basic satellite communications.
Through the test, LG aims to develop space-grade components that operate reliably in extreme conditions involving cryogenic temperatures, vacuum and radiation. The company will check whether each component functions normally in an actual space environment and use the reliability data gathered during operation to refine and upgrade its technology.
Rather than developing dedicated space products at astronomical cost, LG will use the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) approach, adapting commercial parts already proven on the ground to the space environment, to cut development time and costs.
LG plans to launch its own cube satellite in 2028 and expand its space business in earnest from there. The LG Technology Council, which brings together technology executives from each affiliate, has been discussing strategies for entering the space industry since last year. Various collaboration models were discussed, particularly around work in which rovers from Unmanned Exploration Laboratory, which carry out precision scientific exploration missions, record and transmit conditions on site. LG Science Park selected Unmanned Exploration Laboratory as a startup for its incubation program in 2023 and has supported the company since.
"This launch is the first step in confirming how LG's technology actually performs in a space environment," said Jung Soo-heon, head of LG Science Park. "We will verify the technology we have built up on the ground and work to contribute to the domestic space industry ecosystem."
According to investment bank Morgan Stanley, the global space industry is expected to reach $590 billion by 2030 and $1.1 trillion by 2040.
