The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said on the 4th that it finalized the "2026 Korea AeroSpace Administration research and development project comprehensive implementation plan," under which it will invest a total of 949.5 billion won in 53 detailed projects and push the plan forward.
The budget to support research and development (R&D) in the space and aviation field rose about 4.5% from the previous year, increasing by 41 billion won from 908.6 billion won in 2025. The investment amount excludes basic expenses and non-R&D projects from the Korea AeroSpace Administration's 2026 budget of 1.1201 trillion won.
Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) first said it will support structural upgrades across the R&D ecosystem. It plans to strengthen mission execution capabilities through diversifying the portfolios of directly affiliated institutes such as KARI and KASI, improving research environments, and supporting innovative R&D. It will also foster Ph.D.-level advanced talent and convergence-type experts through operating a future space education center, nurturing New Space leaders, and running field-linked projects based on industry-academia cooperation.
To strengthen national space risk response capabilities, it will push to build an optical surveillance system and an integrated space risk response system, while also running projects to establish end-to-end support from technology accumulation to commercialization, including the Space-K BIG project and the Korea space situational awareness system (K-SSA). New projects include training space technology innovation talent (3 billion won), building K-SSA (4 billion won), and coordinating space and aviation policy (1.5 billion won).
It will also expand the industrial base to build a private-led space industry ecosystem and achieve independence in strategic technologies. Through a "triangular system" of space industry clusters, it will strengthen private space development capabilities, and it will newly pursue the construction (1 billion won) of a "private-only space launch vehicle engine combustion test facility" where corporations can continuously test launch vehicle engines under development. The plan also includes building a system to use satellite image big data in response to satellite multi- and constellation deployment and improving data accessibility through an open satellite image service system.
In the launch vehicle field, it said it will grow the launch vehicle industry ecosystem through improving reliability via repeated launches of Nuri and through transfer to the private sector. For small launch vehicles, it will support development of high-performance upper-stage engines through competition among corporations and respond to demand for launching large satellites and space exploration by developing next-generation launch vehicles. A new project, "development and demonstration of an orbital transporter flight model" (3 billion won), is also included.
For satellite systems, it will pursue upgrades in a direction that encompasses national security, disaster response, and industrial use. It plans to secure high-frequency Earth observation capabilities through very small, medium, and constellation satellite systems, resolve communication blind spots and lay the groundwork for market entry by developing a geostationary public composite communication satellite and a low Earth orbit satellite communication system. It will continue developing the Korea Positioning System (KPS) and a space weather satellite, and newly reflect development of multipurpose practical satellite No. 8 (18.8 billion won) and development of core technologies for ultra-high-resolution optical satellites (6.2 billion won).
In exploration and international cooperation, it will seek to secure independent lunar landing and surface exploration capabilities by expanding Korea-U.S. joint research based on private lunar lander participation and by pursuing phase two of lunar exploration (developing a lunar lander). It will continue cooperation on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. New items include demonstration of a small space unmanned manufacturing platform (3 billion won) and support to accelerate the practical use of space technology (3.2 billion won).
In aviation, it will focus on securing eco-friendly and intelligent aviation technologies and responding to future air mobility. It will strengthen localization and manufacturing competitiveness by developing turbofan engines, high-strength materials, and thermoplastic aircraft components, and it will also pursue new tasks such as a stratospheric drone demonstration platform (8 billion won), reliability assurance technology for autonomous missions to ensure aviation artificial intelligence (AI) safety (3 billion won), and preliminary development of an electric-turbine hybrid propulsion system (6 billion won).
Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said, "We plan to disclose the schedules for new projects and each task on the 5th through the KASA website in line with the finalized implementation plan."