KASA to inaugrate private space era via technology transfers

(Right) Yoon Young-bin, nominee for the KASA administrator, and John Lee (left), nominee for KASA’S deputy administrator of mission directorates meet with reporters in Seoul on May 2, 2024. [Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) will focus on empowering the private sector to lead developments in space, according to administrator nominee Yoon Young-bin.

“Government-led space development is now at a good level but private-led space development, which involves transferring each technology to the private sector to enhance its role, has not been properly pursued yet,” Yoon said.

Yoon, an aerospace engineering professor at Seoul National University, was nominated as KASA‘s inaugural chief in April 2024. He held a press conference in Seoul on Thursday and shared his thoughts on the new space administration that will be launched on May 27th.

“KASA’s new space era will be led by the private sector via global technology development and transfer,” Yoon said. “Since having the right talent is crucial, we will focus on the recruiting process until the end of 2024.”

The South Korean government has been actively preparing for the KASA launch, and appointed nominees for the KASA administrator, deputy administrator, and deputy administration of mission directorates on April 24th. It is also recruiting 50 civil servants below Grade 5.

KASA will open its doors with a staff of about 110, including 50 civil servants on a term basis and 55 regular civil servants, and without filling the target positions.

Key positions to lead space R&D, such as the directors of four programs including space transportation, artificial satellites, space science, and aviation innovation, are also currently vacant.

“KASA will be divided into administrative organizations and mission headquarters,” Yoon said. “The roles in the mission headquarters are important. We will focus on selecting these personnel.”

All this recruitment is expected to take time thanks to the focus on personnel selection.

“We will proceed carefully with the selection process, so it will take some time,” KASA deputy administrator nominee Rho Kyung-won, who also attended the press conference, said. “The positions will be filled by the end of 2024.”

John Lee, nominee for deputy administration of mission directorates of KASA, noted that the talent recruitment goal is to find a “team player.”

“We need team players who strive for mutual cooperation and find creative solutions, who look at the big picture of KASA’s goals rather than just their own field,” Lee said. “We have not made a decision yet on whether to recruit foreign talents, including those from NASA.”

Yoon, in the meantime, said that KASA will actively promote the development of reusable launch vehicle technology once the administration is formed.

Yoon, who has been a professor at SNU since 1998, is an engineer who has been researching rocket propulsion. He has argued for the necessity of reusing space launch vehicles even before SpaceX emerged.

He has been promoting the development of core technologies for liquid methane engines, rather than conventional fuels, to increase the possibility of the rocket engines being reused.

“We are trying to find ways to launch our satellites more frequently and easily with lower costs by using our own launch vehicles,” Yoon said. “Building our launch site will also be one of our tasks.”

Yoon added that KASA will be a bridge for transferring acheivements in space research from the public sector to the private sector, enabling private entities to lead space development.

KASA‘s ultimate role is to move away from the conventional government-led business model, work with the private sector for it to lead commercial space development, and support government-funded research institutions and universities to focus on high-risk, long-term future space development projects, he said.