A Big Step Forward for Korea's Aerospace Industry

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) faced a critical challenge in developing the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II (KSLV-II): designing a reliable test facility for rocket engine combustion testing under severe environmental and regulatory constraints. The Rocket Engine Test Facility (RETF) required a sophisticated control architecture capable of managing multi-stage engine tests where harmful gas emissions strictly limit the number of allowable test runs. With each test representing a significant investment and environmental risk, any control system failure or data loss could set the national space program back substantially — making reliability, redundancy, and agile data capture non-negotiable requirements.

Rockwell Automation Korea engineered a comprehensive distributed control system for KARI's RETF, integrating hardware and software layers designed for high-stakes aerospace test environments. The deployment centered on ControlLogix® PAC Redundancy Systems to ensure fault-tolerant process control, supplemented by Stratix® network switches with Device Level Ring (DLR) modules for resilient industrial networking. On the data and visibility layer, Rockwell implemented FactoryTalk® Historian Site Edition (SE) and Machine Edition (ME) for time-series data capture, FactoryTalk® AssetCentre for configuration management and audit trails, and FactoryTalk® View for human-machine interface. Process Book Reporting and the 1756-TPt module rounded out the stack, enabling real-time monitoring and post-test analysis across the three-stage engine combustion test sequence.

The integrated control system enabled KARI to successfully complete over 100 three-stage engine combustion tests — a significant milestone for Korea's domestic space launch program. Given that each test run carries environmental restrictions and high operational stakes, surpassing the 100-test threshold validated both the system's reliability and KARI's testing methodology. Key outcomes include:

• System stability verified across all combustion test phases with no reported control failures
• Agile fault response confirmed, with operators able to identify and act on anomalies in real time
• Data continuity maintained throughout tests via redundant historian architecture
• Rockwell Automation Korea has established a replicable control system framework for future KSLV program phases

• Redundancy is mission-critical in constrained-test environments: When test runs are limited by regulation, a single system failure is unacceptably costly — PAC redundancy and DLR networking should be baseline requirements.
• Integrated data historians enable post-test learning: Capturing time-series data at both site and machine levels allows engineers to extract maximum insight from each restricted test cycle.
• Distributed control architectures scale to complex multi-stage sequences: Separating control logic across redundant PACs supports the phase-by-phase demands of rocket engine testing without single points of failure.
• National program timelines depend on vendor local expertise: Rockwell Automation Korea's regional deployment capability was essential to meeting KARI's schedule and integration requirements.