By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Government officials have secured a commitment from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to help the country's ambitions for a presence in space technology and to become more involved in international space research projects.

The agreement signed between Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and NASA, Friday, calls for expanding exchange in technological advancements and further cooperation on a wide range of projects such as lunar exploration and manned space flights, the ministry said.

``The ministry and NASA will established a communication network to exchange data and research material and discuss the direction of our cooperative efforts, which will be included in a report that will be jointly produced about eight months from now,'' said an official from the ministry's space policy bureau.

The potential areas of cooperation could include space exploration, planetary science, lunar exploration, manned space flight and aerospace engineering, the official said.

``This is the first agreement signed between Korea and the United States over developing space technology, and we hope this will mark the start of a more active relationship.''

One of the immediate issues to be discussed is Korea's potential participation in the International Lunar Network (ILN), a multinational project aiming to gradually place six to eight fixed or mobile science stations on the lunar surface. The stations will form a robotic network to replace the hardware left by the Apollo program to continue studies of the moon's surface and interior.

The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country's space agency, has been looking to have a part in ILN and linking up with NASA in related projects will help it improve technology and secure a higher level of involvement in the international program.

Korea has been pushing an aggressive space program over the past decade.

With the help of Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, KARI is planning to launch a satellite into orbit from the country's brand new spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, during the first-half of next year.

A successful launch would make Korea the ninth country in the world to launch a satellite from its own soil.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr