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South Korea
Key Points188 Funding: The 2022 space budget is $553 million. Organizations: • •
Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI)
Capabilities: • • • •
Naro Space Center launch site Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-I) Nuri KSLV-II three-stage launch vehicle STSat-2 Earth monitoring satellite
International partners: The United States, Europe, Russia, Australia
SUMMARY
S
outh Korea (ROK) is a technologically advanced nation with a strong economy and rapidly growing space sector. Despite its diplomatic clout and good standing with key international partners, South Korea struggles with tense relations with its neighbors. The Korean Peninsula has long been an arena of conflict, which has colored most aspects of South Korea’s public policy, including the space sector. Space programs are predominantly military, based on early warning capabilities and surveillance and reconnaissance. South Korea has satellite
design, manufacture and launch capabilities, with ambitions to land on the moon in 2030, and develop the Korea Positioning System (KPS) by 2035. These achievements are significant, but the development and testing of rockets, as well as the reintroduction of solidfuel launchers has exacerbated tensions with North Korea. The neighboring authoritarian regime is developing space capabilities of its own. South Korea relies on space-based systems to bolster its defense posture and enhance deterrence in the region.
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Map: credit https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Korea_on_the_globe_(South_Korea_centered).svg
EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SPACE
INTERPLANETARY INITIATIVE
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