[News Today] GROWING SPACE PROJECT COLLABS

[LEAD]
It has been 100 days since the establishment of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which is leading private sector-driven, profit-oriented space development. So far, it's been advancing projects such as lunar exploration and satellite launches, while rapidly building a 'space industry ecosystem'.

[REPORT]
This is a small unmanned lunar vehicle developed by a space aviation startup company in Korea.

Its goal is to be loaded onto the lunar lander scheduled to be launched by Korea in 2032.

The key components such as the cameras and the motor are all made by a Korean manufacturing giant.

Cho Nam-suk/ CEO, Unmanned Exploration Laboratory
Korean companies have many technologies related to cameras, batteries and embedded boards. We brought such technologies together.

This maker of small space launch vehicles received investment from a large conglomerate.

The rocket engine was made with the materials developed by the business giant.

The smaller company was able to shorten the development time and cost by getting parts and materials from its conglomerate partner quickly.

The large company can find out if its components are usable in outer space and the promising space company can secure an investor. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Subsequently, the Korea AeroSpace Administration decided to provide more assistance to such collaborations.

The related budget also increased from 1.4 billion won, over one million U.S. dollars, this year to 5.6 billion won, nearly 4.2 million dollars, in 2025.

Yoon Young-bin/ Administrator, Korea AeroSpace Administration (Sept. 5)
We'll establish a standardization certification program for aerospace components so that tech shared by civilian and military sectors can be developed.

The local aerospace industry is urging the government to be more proactive in establishing test infrastructures to further develop the so-called 'aerospace industry ecosystem'.