South Korea cuts space ties with Russia, plans to launch its own satellites
- Seoul last month revoked a contract with Moscow after relying on Russia for years to send South Korean probes into orbit
- The move highlights the impact of international pressure over the war in Ukraine and will deal a harsh blow to Russia’s rocket programme
“Our plans to launch a multipurpose satellite with Russia have entirely gone awry,” South Korea’s Science Vice-Minister Oh Tae-Seog said in an interview. “From the perspective of not only space industries but also national security, owning the ability to lift a satellite we want into space when we want is important.”
“Even if the war is over, it won’t go back to the old times,” said Lee Changjin, a professor of aerospace engineering at Konkuk University in Seoul. “I am sure Moscow will try to re-enter the market once the war’s over given its large space industry cannot be sustained only with domestic demand.”
South Korea paid Russia about 28.7 billion won (US$22 million) of the 59.3 billion won planned under the cancelled deal, according to lawmaker Park Wan-joo’s office.
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There’s a business goal, too: to increase South Korea’s share of the global space economy to 10 per cent by 2045 from the current estimated 1 per cent. That would require building an ecosystem of space developers from start-ups to bigger companies with industrial clusters spread across the nation, Oh said.
South Korea has seen the number of jobs in space industries rise steadily from 6,708 in 2017 to 7,317 in 2021. The government plans to double its annual investment in research and development to 1.5 trillion won (US$1.16 billion) by 2027 to further boost the sector, which is currently estimated to be worth about US$2.3 billion.
In comparison, the worldwide space industry generates roughly US$350 billion in revenue and could potentially surpass US$1 trillion in 2040, according to Morgan Stanley estimates. Satellite broadband is likely to account for half of the projected growth, it says.
South Korea’s key investment areas will include satellite data, navigation, medicine, energy and resources associated with space, according to the science ministry.
“The path for our companies could be different from the path for global companies like SpaceX,” Oh said, referring to Elon Musk’s group. South Korea could differentiate itself by helping businesses find less costly ways to put high-performance satellites into low orbit, he said.
The global revival of space enthusiasm comes after the US established the Artemis programme in 2017 to return astronauts to the moon and eventually reach Mars. It has attracted partnerships from more than 20 nations, including South Korea.
China, with the second-largest space development funding, is also accelerating its efforts to put humans back on the moon and secure access to its resources. Both superpowers are spending billions of dollars as their rivalry moves beyond Earth. For South Korea, the US – its top ally – is its key space partner.
“The US is the one we’re having the most important and active discussions with,” Oh said. South Korea sees more concrete talks taking place between the two countries on ways to cooperate over space industries and exploration after their presidents agreed to do so last year, he said.
South Korea isn’t considering collaboration with China at the moment, he said. Still, it is expanding ties with others, including Australia and the United Arab Emirates, a country that Yoon visited in January, he said.
While ruling out rocket development for military purposes, Oh said South Korean launch vehicles are vital to be able to monitor threats that could come from space.
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“The space industry is growing at an explosive pace, so from an industrial perspective, we can’t ignore it,” Oh said.
“It’s also important for national security as the competition for a share of the space is heating up among nations.”