South Korea’s newly formed space agency, Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) wants to build a moon base within next 20 years. Primarily, South Korea wants to be in space race with the Asian countries such as Japan, China and India.
The country aims to progress with a permanent lunar base which will particularly focus on scientific, technological development and economy, serving as a potential step for deeper space exploration by 2045.
An official public meeting was held at the National Research Foundation of Korea on July 17.
KASA has revealed the objectives for the development of the project, “Five core missions, including low-Earth orbit and microgravity exploration, lunar exploration, solar and space science missions.”
The Korean space agency has already proposed a plan of placing a robotic lander, a type of spacecraft specifically designed to land softly on celestial body just like Moon and Mars. It then remains stationary to perform distinct tasks.
However, current master plan is bigger in terms of the major development of a new lander by 2040. On the other hand, it implies the construction of a lunar economic base by 2045.
South Korea lunar accomplishments
The Republic of Korea is not starting from scratch in lunar exploration. Predominantly, the country has launched its first lunar probe, Danuri, in August 2022.
This accomplishment was part of the first phase of the Korean Lunar exploration program. Moreover, in the second phase, launch is expected to take place in 2032 of the robotic modules. The prime motive of this lunch is to no longer rely on SpaceX rocket, rather use the country’s KSLV-III rocket.
South Korea is not the only country planning to build a lunar base in the next decade. China also aims to build a similar lunar base in collaboration with other countries by 2045.