S. Korea space transport ambitions hopes to challenge SpaceX

South Korea’s new space agency said Thursday it was looking to grow its share of the industry and take on Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as it unveiled plans to create a “space passageway”.

The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) opened in May with the goal of turning the land of K-pop into a new space powerhouse, following the United States, Russia, and China.

Seoul, which is also locked in a space race with the nuclear-armed North, has said it has goals of landing a homegrown probe on the moon by 2032, and eventually getting to Mars.

KASA said Thursday it was looking to build an entire space transport system, including a “space passageway”, to take on market leaders SpaceX, owned by Musk.

“We’re going to make the aerospace industry a core industry, and we’re aiming for a 10 percent global market share by 2045,” Yoon Young-bin, administrator of KASA, told reporters at a press conference.

Currently, transport rates for SpaceX range around $2,000 to $3,000 per kilogram, with many countries using them to get people or supplies to the International Space Station, and put satellites into orbit.

“We aim to reduce the cost of space transport within low Earth orbit to below $1,000 per kilogram,” said Yoon.

KASA also said they aim to construct a space observatory, in part to improve space weather forecasting to help with a future bid to get to Mars, said John Lee, KASA vice administrator of Mission Directorates.

Modeled after the United States’ NASA, KASA says it will act as an “aerospace control tower”, overseeing aerospace policy, satellite development and space missions, including moon exploration.

South Korea sent up its first lunar orbiter, Danuri, in 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon rocket.

It also successfully launched its homegrown Nuri rocket and placed working satellites into orbit last year after two failed attempts.

Seoul is now gearing up for its fourth launch of the Nuri rocket in the second half of 2025.

© 2024 AFP