Defense Business Administration (Commissioner Eom Dong-hwan) announced on September 9. The 20th Defense Technology Forum was held at 13 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hoam Faculty Center of Seoul National University under the theme of ‘The Present and Future of Korea’s Defense Space Technology’ in the presence of experts from military-related organizations, government-funded research institutes, and academia.

This Defense Technology Forum, which will be held for the 8th time this year, is a turning point for the development of the Republic of Korea’s defense space power, and it was prepared to understand the trend of space technology development and industrialization, and to discuss the implementation plans and implementation tasks to lead the K-space era together.

This forum introduced the development direction of the national defense space power contained in the “National Defense Space Strategy” finalized in February to the participants under the theme of analyzing the development trend of space technology, developing the Republic of Korea’s defense space power and securing competitiveness, followed by presentations and panel discussions in six areas, including the defense space technology roadmap and the direction of challenging space technology planning.

Dr. Lee Bok-jik, director of the Space Technology Group of the National Research Foundation of Korea, introduced five long-term space development missions for the implementation of the future space economy, and proposed the need to develop advanced technologies for identifying, monitoring, and recovering space objects along with active government support for the next-generation launch vehicle development plan.

Dr. Lee Ho-chul of the Civil-Military Cooperation Promotion Agency emphasized the need to expand investment in the field of supply chain construction such as space materials and parts to expand civil-military technical cooperation, and to promote the task of developing verification satellites and industrializing launch services to enhance the synergy effect of space development between the civilian and defense sectors.

Dr. Na Kyung-so of the National Defense Research Institute announced the direction of development of space-based surveillance and reconnaissance technology in the defense field, and emphasized the need to preemptively secure core technologies necessary for space power construction to ensure the survivability of the Republic of Korea in the future space era.

Dr. Lee Ki-joo of the Aerospace Research Institute introduced the development trend and future possibilities of overseas commercial reuse launch systems, and requested the need for mid- to long-term technology development to secure industrial competitiveness in the space launch field, such as micro-satellites developed by Korea, and the preparation of a government-level promotion strategy for developing the global market.

Professor Park Hyung-jun of Seoul National University introduced the development trend of on-orbit services such as broken satellite maintenance and attitude correction and the trend of space transportation technology, and proposed the development of strategies for securing unmanned and manned transport ships.

Professor Kim Jong-am of Seoul National University introduced the Reusable Unmanned Space Flight Technology Development Research Center*, suggesting the need to develop new growth engines such as the space transportation industry along with nurturing experts in the space flight field in the news space era.

Specialized Research Center: A research institute (center) commissioned to focus on research in a specific technology field to induce participation in the defense sector with excellent technological potential in the civilian sector.

In the panel discussion (attended by the Ministry of Industry, the military, academia, and defense companies), free opinions were expressed and discussed on how to cooperate in the development of civil-military space technology to prepare for the K-space era and the direction of space technology development in terms of space security.

Han Kyung-ho, head of the Future Power Project Division of the □ Defense Project Administration, emphasized that “Korea is currently ranked 1th in the world in the field of space technology, despite securing its independent surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities through the launch of the first military reconnaissance satellite at the end of this year,” and said, “We plan to establish a virtuous cycle of space technology by further strengthening civil-military cooperation in the field of space technology, which has a high degree of civil-military use.”