South Korea’s rapid strides in space development are further advancing its role as a strategic aerospace power in the Indo-Pacific. As the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) enters its second year of operation, Seoul’s focus on dual-use space technologies, including satellite navigation and reusable launch vehicles, is creating opportunities in national security policy.
“The opening of KASA was the start of a great journey for Korea to take a major leap to become a space powerhouse,” KASA Administrator Yoon Young-bin said at a May 2025 news conference, according to the government publication Korea.net.
Dr. Kim Jae Yeop, a senior researcher at the Sungkyun Institute for Global Strategy, said the legislation that established KASA centers on civil-military and international cooperation. “This makes cooperation between KASA and the military on enhancing the country’s space technology more important,” he told FORUM.
Launched in May 2024 and described as South Korea’s equivalent of the United States space agency NASA, KASA is headquartered in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, a region already home to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Air Force’s 3rd Training Squadron, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Korea Aviation Engineering and Maintenance Service.
The convergence of civil and military aerospace assets highlights Seoul’s commitment to a dual-use development model, and KASA’s implementation has quickly begun to reshape the nation’s aerospace research and development. Over the past year, the agency consolidated national projects under think tanks including the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. The projects prioritize strategic initiatives such as the Korean Positioning System (KPS), advanced launch vehicles and lunar exploration.
KASA also promotes joint research with partners including Germany, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to boost global cooperation and expand South Korea’s private aerospace sector.
Designed to provide centimeter-level positioning accuracy over the Korean Peninsula and nearby regions, the KPS seeks to reduce reliance on foreign navigation satellite systems, with its constellation of eight satellites expected to be fully operational by 2035.
Developing reusable launch vehicles, meanwhile, is key to Seoul’s strategy for cutting space access costs and strengthening its launch capacity.
At the Air Force Development Association’s 13th Security Conference in May 2025, military strategists highlighted the defense implications of such capabilities. Won In-choul, former chairman of the nation’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the ROK Air Force must be a “leading force” in integrating space assets with all-domain operations. ROK Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Young-soo echoed that sentiment: “As the competition among countries around the world to preempt space security intensifies, the use of space in the military sector is becoming more visible.”
KASA’s collaborative approach extends to industrial partnerships. In a major milestone, technology for the domestically developed Nuri launch vehicle is expected to be transferred to Hanwha Aerospace in 2025. Hanwha is expected to begin launch operations in 2028, Korea.net reported. The transfer represents a shift toward a more privatized, yet strategically guided, national space sector.
“In order to deal with the numerous variables that threaten our security, we need to make multifaceted efforts,” Lee Gye-hoon, president of the Air Force Development Association and former ROK Air Force chief of staff, said at the conference.
“To this end, we need to wisely apply cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence … and secure domestic production of core capabilities and space operation capabilities to overcome the competition to protect technology,” he said, according to the nation’s Defense Ministry.
