"Korea's space market is less than 1% of the global total. It is hard to survive without consolidation with the global market."
At the 2026 Satellite Communications and Space Technology Conference (ASTC 2026) held at El Tower in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, on the 26th, Lee Seong-hee, CEO of Asia Pacific Satellite (CONTEC Space Group), diagnosed the scale limitations of the domestic space industry this way and stressed that consolidation with the global ecosystem is essential for Korean corporations to grow sustainably.
Lee's remarks naturally align with the purpose of this ASTC 2026. ASTC 2026 is an international conference that surveys global technology trends centered on satellite, communications, and satellite terminal technologies in the Asia-Pacific region, and serves as a venue where corporations, research institutes, and governments from around the world interact in one place. It aims to be a platform that helps Korea's space industry find its place in the international ecosystem beyond its own boundaries. The event was hosted and organized by Asia Pacific Satellite, a subsidiary of CONTEC.
In the opening address, Lee noted the practical difficulties Korean corporations face when entering overseas markets and explained in more concrete terms that it is hard to survive on the domestic market alone.
Lee said, "For Korean corporations to enter overseas markets is, literally, to brush with death several times," emphasizing the entry barriers of the global market, and added that, for that reason, "we must break out of a structure where only domestic corporations compete with one another and be consolidated with the international ecosystem."
The International Space Summit (ISS), an international space conference that the CONTEC Space Group holds every year, also began from the same sense of problem. Government official from several countries, including Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, and Kazakhstan, are scheduled to participate in the ISS to be held in Daejeon next year, and it is expected to be an important touchpoint for expanding the global network of Korea's space industry.
Lee also stressed that the space industry cannot be sustained by short-term interest or one-off events. Lee added, "Space is not an industry that shines for a brief moment," and "you need a business model that is sustainable for 10 to 20 years, and to that end, industry, government, and academia must share the same current."
At the same time, Lee emphasized that the pace of competition in global space technology is changing faster than one can imagine, and said Korea must respond with a sense of urgency.
Lee said, "Not only in satellite communications but also in radar and deep space, new corporations are pouring in," and added, "to keep up with this pace, the government's strategic drive and private-sector innovation are needed at the same time."
Lee added, "With the platforms of ISS and ASTC as a starting point, I hope domestic institutions and universities will look at the global current to set their research directions, and that the government will craft new policies that match this current."
Meanwhile, Hwang Jeong-ah, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who delivered congratulatory remarks that day, said, "To lead the trends of space-advanced countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, Korea is also taking as its vision a leap to become one of the four major global defense industry powers and an aerospace power," and added, "The National Assembly will provide maximum support through policy, legislation, and the budget."