"Korea's Manned Spacecraft Moon Landing Possible Within 10 Years"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] "(South Korea's manned spacecraft landing on the moon) is possible only if securing justification and consensus comes first, and if we look at it as a possibility, about 10 years should be enough."

Park Seong-dong, chairman and founder of Setrec Eye, the first KOSDAQ-listed company in the domestic space industry, said this in an interview with Asia Economy on the 10th. Park is also the author of the book Setrec Eye Rush (Wisdom House), which depicts the founding and growth period of the company.

The 11th marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of 'UriByul 1,' the first domestic satellite. Park, who has a special connection with the UriByul project, naturally feels deeply moved. He returned to Korea after successfully developing UriByul 1 in the UK. He participated in launching UriByul 2 and UriByul 3 at the KAIST Satellite Research Center. How does Park, an expert in the space industry, view the launch of Nuriho?

To him, the success of the Nuriho launch is also very meaningful. It is encouraging in that it possesses an 'independent launch vehicle,' and there is no disagreement that it marks a major turning point in domestic space development. However, considering the 30-year history of domestic space development, it is a remarkable achievement but not yet at the level to stand shoulder to shoulder with space-advanced countries such as the United States, Russia, China, and Japan.

Park said, "We can say we have just entered the Premier League. Among the 20 teams, except for the top seven teams like Liverpool and Tottenham, there is still a long way to go." Nevertheless, Park mentioned the possibility of a manned spacecraft landing on the moon within 10 years. This means that considering the pace of South Korea's technological advancement, it is not an impossible challenge.

In this regard, the technological capabilities of Setrec Eye are also a subject of interest. Park stated, "From the beginning, we focused on overseas satellite business orders, so domestic business activities were not very active," adding, "We have exported satellites we manufactured ourselves to Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and others."

In particular, Park emphasized, "While many large satellites over 1 ton exist overseas, Setrec Eye developed SpaceEye-1, a small satellite under 300 kg with 1-meter resolution Earth observation capability," and added, "It is the lightest satellite in the world based on the same resolution standard."

The key to enhancing space industry technology is, of course, government interest and support. Park urged, "The government has released many policies with keywords like 'New Space' and 'Space Industry Promotion' to promote private company-led space development. The government must play the role of a catalyst for industrialization as the first customer."

Park predicted, "Becoming the first purchaser of satellites or services developed by companies will accelerate the industrialization of the space industry."

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