Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the steering wheel, and an eco-friendly plane flying in the sky w..
Korea Aerospace Administration unveils ‘Roadmap for Aviation Innovation Promotion’ to secure technological sovereignty by localizing core components such as future aircraft (AAV), eco-friendly, AI autonomous flight engine, and battery. After collecting opinions from industry-academic associations, the final draft will be finalized within this year
Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the steering wheel, and an eco-friendly plane flying in the sky with hydrogen fuel travels over the city center. This blueprint for the future aviation era, which was only seen in science fiction movies, has emerged. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the “Roadmap of Korea’s Aviation Innovation Promotion Strategy,” which focuses on future aviation mobility, eco-friendly technology, and AI-based autonomous flight, and presented its goal to enter the top five global aviation industries (G5) by 2050.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) held a public hearing at the Daejeon Convention Center on the 14th and announced a draft roadmap for the “Roadmap for Promotion of Aviation Innovation in Korea.” The roadmap was designed to cope with the situation in which advanced aviation countries such as the United States, the European Union (EU), and Japan are competing for technological supremacy and carbon neutrality and digital transformation have emerged as global topics. It has been steadily pointed out that Korea has structural limitations due to its high dependence on foreign technologies such as aviation engines and aviation electronics.
The road map released this time contains five major promotion strategies, 15 detailed strategies, and 56 detailed technical roadmaps. The five major strategies are △Implementation of advanced aviation mobility in the future △Secure of eco-friendly aviation technology △AI-based convergence technology research △Localization of core parts and equipment △ Establishment of test and evaluation and production infrastructure.
The strategy of “Implementing Future Advanced Aviation Mobility” included the goal of entering the top five globally in the field of Future Aviation Mobility (AAV), which covers urban air traffic (UAM) and regional air traffic (RAM). To this end, we will develop core technologies for hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and commercialize them after 2035. It will also promote the development of a drone system that flies more than 500 kilometers with a high weight of 1,000 kilograms. In the long run, it also plans to launch prior research on hypersonic propulsion systems of Mach 5 or higher.
Securing eco-friendly aviation technology aims to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. It develops hybrid electric propulsion systems and hydrogen-based technologies and advances eco-friendly long-term aerial unmanned aerial vehicle technology that can stay at an altitude of 20 km in the stratosphere for more than three months. The key to ‘AI-based convergence technology research’ is to secure fully autonomous flight technology that flies without pilot intervention. To this end, we build a data dam for the development of aviation AI technology and support the development of related technologies.
The strategy of “localizing core parts and equipment” focused on strengthening technological sovereignty. It plans to secure core parts such as aircraft motors and batteries and high-efficiency civilian gas turbine engine technology to escape from high dependence on imports. It plans to lay the foundation for testing and evaluation of aviation mobility parts and equipment developed in Korea through “establishment of test, evaluation and production infrastructure” and increase development efficiency through simulation using digital twin technology.
Academia, industry, and research experts who participated in the panel discussion at the public hearing presented various opinions, including accelerating eco-friendly transformation, securing global supply chain stability, and strengthening public-private cooperation models. The space agency plans to collect opinions from the public hearing and finalize the roadmap within this year.
“This public hearing was a valuable opportunity to share mid- to long-term strategies that will determine the future of the Korean aviation industry and reflect the voices of the field,” said Kim Hyundai, head of the aviation innovation division at the Korea Space Administration. “The industry, academia, research, and government will work together to complete a world-class innovation roadmap.”
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