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The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) will lead the
country's "space economy," with hundreds of businesses and
enterprises working to catapult South Korea into the ranks of
the world's top five space powers, Yoon said.
"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. The
country's first lunar lander is planned for 2032.
South Korea became the seventh country to own an indigenous
space launch vehicle and satellite development technology with
the launch of the Nuri rocket in May last year that put a
commercial grade satellite in orbit.
The agency is aimed at streamlining policy and development
functions shared among different government ministries and will
bring under its structure the aerospace research institute that
developed the Nuri and its precursor space launch vehicles.
South Korea plans at least three more space launches by 2027 and
has plans to launch military satellites.
Yoon's announcement highlights the increasing efforts Asian
nations are putting into space programs for practical reasons,
such as honing rocket technology, and to bolster national pride.
On Monday, North Korea launched a rocket but failed to put its
second military spy satellite in orbit, which it blamed on a new
type of engine failing. But one expert noted the attempt as a
"huge leap" in the heavily sanctioned country's race for space.
South Korea, Japan and the United States condemned the North's
launch as violating U.N. Security Council resolutions banning it
from developing ballistic missile technology.
China's space program has developed heavy-lift rockets such as
the Long March 5, the Tiangong space station, unmanned moon
probes and the rover Zhurong that reached Mars in 2021.
In January, Japan became the fifth country to place a lander on
the moon. Last year, India became the fourth nation to land on
the moon, after Russia failed in an attempt the same month.
Japan also plans a rover mission to Mars.
($1 = 1,378.2400 won)
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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