"South Korea to Land on the Moon by 2030"…Lander Mission and Technology Development Initiated

Ministry of Science and ICT

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Ministry of Science and ICT will conduct a mission demand survey and a survey of participating institutions for technology development from the 23rd of this month to the 20th of next month, aimed at planning the 'lunar lander' project targeted for launch in the 2030s.

The 'lunar lander' is a follow-up project to the 'lunar orbiter' scheduled for launch this August. It plans to develop a lander weighing over 1.5 tons to carry out various scientific missions on the lunar surface (such as resource exploration and in-situ resource utilization). In particular, to secure independent space exploration capabilities, the goal is to achieve self-launch using Korea's next-generation Korean Launch Vehicle for the first time. The protagonist is the two-stage next-generation launch vehicle based on liquid oxygen-kerosene, which is planned to be developed as a successor to the 'Nuriho'.

Since February, the Ministry of Science and ICT has started planning research on the lunar lander through a planning task force composed of experts from industry, academia, and research institutes (such as the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute). Based on the results of this demand survey, the task force will establish scientific and technological mission plans and design proposals for the lunar lander.

This survey will be conducted by collecting demands for missions to be performed by the lunar lander on the lunar surface (science, resource utilization, infrastructure, transportation/mobility, etc.) and recruiting institutions willing to participate in the development of lander components. Institutions can propose costs, technology acquisition plans, schedules, etc., according to the component design requirements of the task force.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to apply for a preliminary feasibility study in September and commence the full-scale project from 2024.

Kwon Hyun-jun, Director of the Large-scale Public Research Policy Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Countries around the world are actively promoting space exploration, including lunar exploration, to pioneer space territories and study the industrial utilization potential of space resources. Through the development of the lunar lander, Korea will be able to secure independent space exploration capabilities including self-launch, deep space navigation, lunar landing, and exploration, enabling it to leap forward as a space power."

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