Three Stars: Aerospace Program
Today is a significant day for Russia and the whole world. Exactly 50 years ago, our compatriot Yu. A. Gagarin in the spacecraft Vostok made the first orbital flight around the Earth in the history of mankind. This flight lasted only 108 minutes, but marked a powerful breakthrough in space exploration. In tribute to the international holiday, this post will focus on the contribution of our company to the development of aviation and cosmonautics.
The word Samsung (삼성, 三星) in translation from Korean means “three stars”. These are two traditional cultural symbols: “three” means power, and “star” means infinity. Anyway, it was quite worthwhile to expect the development of the aerospace direction from a company with such a name. There is one more reason to talk about it - in the comments to the post about the weapon systems we deal with, we promised to do it. The story is a bit sad (because now there is no more direction), but also a bit like science fiction.
The basis of this direction within the company laid in 1977 Samsung Precision Company. Initially (since 1980), the priority direction of its activity was the production of jet engines together with the American General Electrics.
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In February 1987, the division was renamed Samsung Aerospace Industries (SAI). In the same year, the construction of helicopters began. In the nineties, their model range was brought to six. A particularly popular model was (and still remains) created in conjunction with the Texas Bell Helicopter - SB427. The production of non-military and transport helicopters Samsung Techwin, the successor to SAI, has been successfully engaged to this day. Products are popular among those who can afford a helicopter.
Ten years later (in 1997), the first South Korean KF-16 fighter flew into the air. As the name implies, it is a modification of the popular American F-16, which was purchased under license from Lockheed Martin, developed in the mid-seventies. In fairness, we note that the SAI did not engage in screwdriver assembly of spare parts. On the basis of the Fighting Falcon, a fundamentally new, own machine was created. In the KF-16, almost two and a half thousand details differ from the American original. In total, within the framework of SAI (and then KAI) more than one hundred and thirty such machines were assembled, which, you see, agree for a small country like South Korea.
In 1999, the aerospace direction of Samsung was minimized, but not because something went wrong. The fact is that at the state level, it was decided to merge the relevant divisions of Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai into a single state corporation Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which has since been exclusively engaged in aerospace research and production of aviation equipment.
However, Samsung Techwin, which came to replace SAI in 2000, continues some of the long-term programs that were launched back in the nineties. In particular, work continues on preparing for the creation of space stations on the Moon and Mars in the first half of the 21st century. We are talking about the construction of residential and industrial modules, as well as the development of life support systems. Imagine all this, too, Samsung.
The word Samsung (삼성, 三星) in translation from Korean means “three stars”. These are two traditional cultural symbols: “three” means power, and “star” means infinity. Anyway, it was quite worthwhile to expect the development of the aerospace direction from a company with such a name. There is one more reason to talk about it - in the comments to the post about the weapon systems we deal with, we promised to do it. The story is a bit sad (because now there is no more direction), but also a bit like science fiction.
The basis of this direction within the company laid in 1977 Samsung Precision Company. Initially (since 1980), the priority direction of its activity was the production of jet engines together with the American General Electrics.
')
In February 1987, the division was renamed Samsung Aerospace Industries (SAI). In the same year, the construction of helicopters began. In the nineties, their model range was brought to six. A particularly popular model was (and still remains) created in conjunction with the Texas Bell Helicopter - SB427. The production of non-military and transport helicopters Samsung Techwin, the successor to SAI, has been successfully engaged to this day. Products are popular among those who can afford a helicopter.
Ten years later (in 1997), the first South Korean KF-16 fighter flew into the air. As the name implies, it is a modification of the popular American F-16, which was purchased under license from Lockheed Martin, developed in the mid-seventies. In fairness, we note that the SAI did not engage in screwdriver assembly of spare parts. On the basis of the Fighting Falcon, a fundamentally new, own machine was created. In the KF-16, almost two and a half thousand details differ from the American original. In total, within the framework of SAI (and then KAI) more than one hundred and thirty such machines were assembled, which, you see, agree for a small country like South Korea.
In 1999, the aerospace direction of Samsung was minimized, but not because something went wrong. The fact is that at the state level, it was decided to merge the relevant divisions of Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai into a single state corporation Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which has since been exclusively engaged in aerospace research and production of aviation equipment.
However, Samsung Techwin, which came to replace SAI in 2000, continues some of the long-term programs that were launched back in the nineties. In particular, work continues on preparing for the creation of space stations on the Moon and Mars in the first half of the 21st century. We are talking about the construction of residential and industrial modules, as well as the development of life support systems. Imagine all this, too, Samsung.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/110946/
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