Home > Business > Tech

Korea aims to establish lunar base by 2045 under new space exploration road map

Published: 17 Jul. 2025, 17:37

The homegrown Nuri rocket is launched from Naro Space Center in South Jeolla's Goheung County on June 21, 2022. [YONHAP]

Korea aims to build a lunar base by 2045 under its new long-term national space exploration road map, the country's space agency said Thursday.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) revealed the country's latest space exploration vision during a public hearing at the National Research Foundation of Korea in Daejeon.

The road map categorizes exploration areas into Earth orbit, moon, heliosphere and deep space, and outlines five core missions, including low-Earth orbit and microgravity exploration, lunar exploration and solar and space science missions.

In the lunar sector, KASA said it aims to develop independent landing and mobility technology, utilize lunar resources and construct infrastructure for economic activities.

By 2040, it plans to develop a next-generation lunar lander for logistics, with the goal of building a lunar economic base by 2045.

For solar and heliosphere exploration, the road map calls for the development of probes to monitor solar activity and enhance space safety.

KASA also envisions a mission to deploy a solar observation satellite to the so-called Lagrange point L4, where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth are balanced, by 2035.

Yonhap