"2032 Lunar Landing Plan"... Korea Aerospace Administration Proposes Landing Site at Latitude 40–70 Degrees

Commissioner Oh Taeseok: "Securing Key Data for Lunar Base Construction"
Six Candidate Landing Sites Unveiled

The outline of the landing site for the 2032 lunar lander has been revealed. As Korea’s lunar exploration program enters the implementation phase, core scientific missions such as resource exploration and geological analysis have been brought to the forefront.

On March 25, the Korea Aerospace Administration unveiled the scientific and technological missions, as well as the candidate landing sites, for the 2032 lunar lander at the “Korea Lunar Exploration Mission Establishment Public Hearing” held at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.

Conceptual image of Korean lunar exploration. Provided by the Korea Space Agency

This plan is based on the “Korea Space Science Exploration Roadmap” and is part of a mid- to long-term strategy aimed at establishing a lunar economic base in the 2040s. The stages include: ▲ securing data on the lunar surface and resource exploration, ▲ analyzing the geological structure of polar regions, and ▲ building a lunar base utilizing in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).

Lunar Landing Zone Set at Latitude 40–70 Degrees...Full-Scale Polar Region Exploration

The Korea Aerospace Administration has designated the main missions for the 2032 lunar lander as follows: ▲ investigating the interaction between lunar surface dust and the space environment, ▲ exploring the chemical composition of the lunar surface and searching for resources, and ▲ analyzing lunar terrain and geology. These missions aim to secure fundamental data required for future crewed missions and lunar base construction.

In particular, the candidate latitude range for the landing site has been set between 40 and 70 degrees in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This range is evaluated as providing a mission duration of over 10 days and relatively stable conditions for scientific exploration and lander operation.

Specific candidate sites include Gartner Crater, Endymion Crater, and Lacus Mortis in the northern hemisphere, as well as Clavius Crater, Pingre Crater, and Maginus Crater in the southern hemisphere.

The Korea Aerospace Administration plans to review these candidate sites along with several additional areas and finalize the landing site by the end of 2026.

Commissioner Oh Taeseok stated, “This discussion is a crucial step in determining the design of the 2032 lunar lander and its exploration site,” adding, “We will continue to incorporate expert opinions so that Korea can actively advance its lunar exploration technology and scientific missions.”

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