Decline in South Korea's Space Industry... Easing Satellite Concentration

Continuous Increase in Domestic Space Sector Participants and Workforce
Satellite Utilization Sector Holds the Largest Share in Korea's Space Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] It has been revealed that the scale of South Korea's space industry has been declining since peaking in 2017. However, when looking at each sector, the concentration on the satellite industry appears to be somewhat easing. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 29th the "2020 Space Industry Status," which surveyed the current status of South Korea's space industry as of last year.

Contraction of the Space Industry

Last year, the scale of the space industry was 3.8931 trillion won, which is about 39.3 billion won less than in 2018. Although the number of surveyed institutions increased by 17 (to 449) compared to the previous survey, the industry scale actually decreased. The scale of the space industry has been continuously shrinking since surpassing 4 trillion won in 2017.

Among the entire space industry, the proportions of corporate sales, research institute budgets, and university research funds were similar to last year. They were surveyed at approximately 83% (3.261 trillion won), 15% (584.9 billion won), and 1% (47.2 billion won), respectively. By sector, satellite utilization services or equipment still accounted for a large share. This sector represented about 68.5% (2.6656 trillion won). In the previous survey, this sector accounted for 77.7% (2.9536 trillion won).

Investment in the space sector was 315.4 billion won, an increase of 33% (78.3 billion won) compared to the previous year. This was analyzed to be due to an increase in facility investment costs.

Space Industry Workforce Growth at 1%

The domestic space industry workforce numbered 9,397, showing a steady average annual growth rate of about 1% over the past 10 years. Companies accounted for the largest portion with 6,643 people (70.7%), research institutes had 1,192 people (12.7%), and universities had 1,562 people (16.6%). By sector, satellite utilization services and equipment accounted for the highest share at 53% (4,980 people). This was followed by satellite manufacturing at 14.4% (1,352 people) and launch vehicle manufacturing at 11.7% (1,097 people).

Lee Chang-yoon, Director of the Large Public Research Policy Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "The Space Industry Survey is the only statistical data on the space sector in Korea and is conducted annually to provide basic data on the status of the domestic space industry." He added, "We hope that the results of this survey will be widely utilized not only for government policy formulation but also for companies' space sector management strategies and research materials for academia and research institutes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.