Space Policy of President Lee Myung-Bac Government of Korea

Paper number

IAC-10.E3.1A.10

Author

Dr. Nammi Choe, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Korea, Republic of

Year

2010

Abstract

President Lee Myung-Bac of Korea had a visual conference call with the first Korean astronaut Lee So-Yun on the International Space Station on April 12, 2008, and announced “After the return of the astronaut Lee, we are taking this opportunity to concentrate our effort to make Korea the one of space powers. In this paper, I am going to discuss about the direction of Korea’s space policy in the Lee Myung-Bac(MB) Government after the launch on February 2008.

Three major space policy platforms of the MB government are technological independence, promotion of industrialization and international collaboration.  The government which managed to launch the ‘Naro-ho’ rocket with the collaboration of Russian partner after the launch of the “Daepo-dong’ rocket of the North Korea, acknowledged the importance of the domestic technology development related to the space launch vehicle. The Korean domestic space vehicle project aiming technology independence has started this year targeting around 2020 for a first launch. 
Another MB Government’s major direction of space policy is to strengthen space industry. Although Satrec I Inc. exports a small satellite, industrial entities only participate in an Arirang satellite program as subsystem manufacturers. Until now, Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has been in charge of overall assembly of Arirang satellites and industrial entities have only taken parts of fabrication of parts and components. The government directed KARI to transfer the acquired technologies during the development of the Arirang series to the industrial sector to boost its capability. Industrial sector will be in charge of the development of the standardized practical purpose satellites from 2016 due to the Roadmap of Korea’s Space Development Promotion planned in 2007. An industrial entity for the development of KOMPSAT 3A bus will be selected this year. This entity will have a technology transfer through the cooperation with KARI personnel from the initial design phase. Also the space industry will be supported by revised ‘Special Tax Exemption Law Enforcement Regulation’ to extend its coverage from 6% to 20% of R&D expense.

Another MB Government’s major direction of space policy is to strengthen international cooperation. Korea currently participates in sentinel Asia, the Global Exploration Strategy, and held the Daejeon IAC in 2009.

Abstract document

IAC-10.E3.1A.10.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-10.E3.1A.10.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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