NASA Artemis mission draws attention as Korea, US seek cooperation in space

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden / Korea Times file

Two nations to bolster cooperation in moon landing mission

By Lee Hyo-jin

Space cooperation is expected to be one of the key agenda items at the upcoming summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, President Joe Biden, on Saturday, as the two leaders will likely discuss plans on how to bolster collaboration in the Artemis program, a U.S.-led future moon landing project.

Biden is set to arrive in Seoul on Friday afternoon for a three-day visit, marking his first visit to Korea since his inauguration in January 2021. The first bilateral summit between the two leaders will be held the following day.

The meeting will focus on reaffirming the Seoul-Washington alliance, prioritizing close cooperation via the economic alliance and on national security, including space development, according to Seoul's presidential office.

Talks on space cooperation between the two leaders come after Korea became the 10th country to sign the Artemis Accords ― a shared vision of principles between governments to participate in the U.S.-led Artemis Program ― under the previous Moon Jae-in government in May 2021.

The Artemis Program is an ongoing space mission run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with the goal of landing the first female astronaut and first astronaut of color on the moon by 2025. Named after the twin sister of Apollo from ancient Greek mythology, it is the U.S. space agency's first crewed moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.

So far, 18 countries have signed the Artemis Accords, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom.

It remains to be seen whether the two sides can further enhance cooperation in the U.S.-led space initiative.

In addition, on Sunday, the last day of his visit, Biden will visit the Korean Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) located in Osan Air Base, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to be briefed on allied forces' space defense capabilities.

Space development was selected by the Yoon administration as one of its 110 policy tasks, under his government's plans to establish a separate organization for space development, to create far-reaching effects from the country's space program in the defense, security and industrial sectors.

During the presidential race, Yoon pledged to ramp up the country's space development by building an independent aerospace administration agency in Sacheon, where the country's leading aerospace company Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is based.

With full-fledged support from the government, Korea is expected to play a bigger role in international space cooperation.

In mid-June, the government will conduct a second launch of the rocket known as "Nuri," the country's first homegrown space launch vehicle. If the liftoff is successful, the country will become the seventh in the world with the independent capability to launch a satellite weighing over 1 ton into orbit, following Russia, the United States, France, China, Japan and India.

The U.S., for its part, has been reaching out to its allies to boost partnerships in civil space exploration, science, aeronautics research and cooperation for an effective joint response to security threats in space, as the U.S.-China rivalry extends from Earth into the realm of space.

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