South Korea Establishes Space Agency, Targets Mars Landing

2024-06-10

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  • South Korea has created a new national space agency to increase its capabilities and is aiming for a future Mars landing.
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  • President Yoon Suk Yeol recently announced the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA).
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  • He said the country plans to spend about $70 billion on future space exploration.
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  • "I have always believed that there is an infinite dream and future in outer space," Yoon said.
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  • The South Korean leader added that the agency would seek "to land a homegrown probe on the moon by 2032 and plant the (South Korean flag) on Mars by 2045."
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  • South Korean space officials say the newly formed agency will aim to establish better cooperation than in the past, when different government ministries were involved in space activities.
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  • All space efforts are now to be developed under the KASA.
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  • South Korea became the seventh country to own an indigenous space launch rocket.
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  • Last May, that vehicle, called Nuri, successfully launched a large satellite into orbit.
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  • Additional Nuri rocket launches are planned. One is set for the second half of 2025.
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  • In the next three years, South Korea plans at least three more space launches.
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  • It also aims to launch several military satellites.
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  • A KASA statement said the agency is modeled after the American space agency NASA.
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  • It said KASA would act as an "aerospace control tower," to oversee space policy, satellite development and exploration missions.
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  • Planned cooperative projects include expanding South Korea's involvement in Artemis 3, NASA's planned effort to put astronauts back on the moon by 2026.
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  • Research and development at KASA will be led by John Lee, who spent 30 years with NASA.
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  • Yoon said the country's space development budget would increase by $1.1 billion by 2027.
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  • That is double the current space budget.
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  • KASA will be headquartered in the city of Sacheon, in South Korea's far south.
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  • Yoon noted the government's plan to create the "Toulouse of Asia" in Sacheon.
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  • He was speaking about the southwestern French city of Toulouse,
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  • which developed into a European space capital because Airbus is headquartered there.
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  • KASA's planned moon landing in 2032 will be a joint project with Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea's largest defense and aerospace company.
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  • Roh Kyung-won is deputy administrator of KASA.
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  • He told the French news agency AFP, "Our aim is also to support the private sector in space missions as extensively as we can."
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  • One of the agency's first projects will involve a cooperation with Perigee Aerospace.
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  • The newly formed South Korean space company will aim to test a space launch vehicle from South Korea's southern Jeju Island as early as next month.
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  • International space experts say Yoon's announcement demonstrates the increasing efforts that Asian nations are putting into space programs for practical reasons.
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  • These include perfecting independent rocket technology and strengthening national pride.
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  • China has been heavily developing its space program and exploration missions in recent years.
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  • The country has successfully launched heavy-lift rockets, including the Long March 5.
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  • It has also established its Tiangong space station, sent unmanned moon probes and launched its Zhurong exploring vehicle, which reached Mars in 2021.
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  • Japan has also increased its national space activities.
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  • In January, it became the fifth nation to place a lander on the moon.
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  • Japan also plans to send an explorer, or rover, to Mars.
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  • And last year, India became the fourth country to land on the moon.
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  • I'm Bryan Lynn