Country dossier · KOR

South Korea

Advanced space-faring nation

A sourced snapshot of South Korea's posture in space — capability, institutions, orbital assets, law and people. Every figure carries its primary source; gaps are shown honestly, never filled with invented data.

Open South Korea in the interactive workspace →

Capability tier

Advanced space-faring nation

Launches to orbit from its own territory: yesLaunch sites on record: 1Nationals who have flown: 1

Source: ALL IN SPACE capability ladder · see methodology

Space agency

KASA (Korea AeroSpace Administration), successor to KARI (1989)

National space agency · established 2024 · two-source verified

Source: UNOOSA · Worldwide Space Agencies directory

Satellites (owner state)

64

Counted from the GCAT May 2026 snapshot. The interactive workspace shows a live CelesTrak figure, which uses different owner-attribution rules and will differ.

Source: GCAT · General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (J. McDowell) · May 2026 snapshot

Ground stations

18

Source: ALL IN SPACE curated ground-station dataset (operator-sourced)

Space budget

$770M

Developing spender · 2026 · KASA

Source: Korea AeroSpace Administration

National strategy

4th Basic Plan for Promotion of Space Development (2023-2027) (2022)

Five-year top-level space plan endorsed by the National Space Council, targeting lunar landing by 2032, Mars by 2045 and a tenfold rise in Korea's global space share.

Source: Published national space strategies and policies

International space law

InstrumentStatus
Outer Space Treaty 1967Ratified
Rescue Agreement 1968Ratified
Liability Convention 1972Ratified
Registration Convention 1975Ratified
Moon Agreement 1979Not a party
Artemis Accords 2020Signatory (2021-05-24)

Source: Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space (1 January 2026)

Launch sites

  • Naro Space CenterKorea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) · Goheung County, South Jeolla Province · orbital · since 2009

Source: National launch site roster · ALL IN SPACE compilation

Astronauts

  • Yi So-yeonKARI / Roscosmos · first flight 2008 · First Korean in space; first Korean woman in space

Source: Astronaut biographies

Milestones

  • 2008First national in space
  • 2009First orbital launch from national soil
  • 2024KASA (Korea AeroSpace Administration), successor to KARI (1989) established

Notable missions and contributions

  • Nuri (KSLV-II) domestic launch vehicle
  • Danuri (KPLO) lunar orbiter
  • Chollian (GEO-KOMPSAT) multi-purpose satellites
  • Nuri (KSLV-II) 4th launch (27 Nov 2025) - successful flight from Naro Space Center deploying the CAS500-3 (~500 kg) satellite plus 12 cubesats into a 600 km sun-synchronous orbit; first Nuri mission led by a private system integrator (Hanwha Aerospace), opening Korea's private-led NewSpace launch era
  • ESA-KASA Memorandum of Understanding (1 Oct 2025, signed at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney) - deepens cooperation in space communications and tracking, including mutual use of ground stations for telemetry, tracking and command (e.g. Korea's Yeoju Deep Space Antenna), space weather and space science