Insider Brief:
- President Yoon Suk Yeol declared South Korea’s ambition to achieve a Mars landing by 2045 while unveiling the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA).
- The nation’s space industry will receive an investment of 100 trillion won, equivalent to $72.6 billion, channelled into space exploration.
- South Korea, which launched its Nuri rocket in May last year, becoming the seventh country with indigenous space launch vehicle and satellite technology, plans at least three more space launches by 2027 and intends to launch military satellites.
Unveiling the nation’s inaugural space agency, the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), President Yoon Suk Yeol declared South Korea’s ambition to achieve a Mars landing by 2045. This bold effort is set to receive a huge investment of 100 trillion won, equivalent to $72.6 billion, channelled into space exploration. KASA will head South Korea’s “space economy,” which will involve hundreds of businesses to elevate the nation into the world’s top five space powers.
“KASA will usher in a new space era by cultivating experts while intensively supporting the aerospace industry ecosystem and fostering challenging and innovative R&D,” Yoon said, which plans to launch its first lunar lander in 2032, marking a significant milestone in its ambitious space exploration agenda.
South Korea, which launched its Nuri rocket in May last year, becoming the seventh country with indigenous space launch vehicle and satellite technology, plans at least three more space launches by 2027 and intends to launch military satellites.
As Asia’s focus on space programs heats up, boosted by aspirations for technological expertise and national honor, Yoon’s words sets the future tone. This comes in the wake of North Korea’s failed rocket launch attempt involving a military spy satellite, an act quickly condemned by South Korea, Japan and the US as a transgression of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
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