The government has set a goal to challenge Mars exploration like the United States and China by advancing the next-generation space launch vehicle currently under development for lunar landing missions. Simultaneously, the administration is pursuing plans to jump into deep space exploration competition early by collaborating with U.S. SpaceX to build a space base on Mars even before achieving independent Mars missions.

Kang Kyung-in, director of the Space Science Exploration Division at the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), announced the Mars exploration strategy at a conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul on Dec. 16. KASA has set goals to send landing missions to the Moon in 2032, followed by Mars in 2045. This announcement presented specific implementation plans to achieve these objectives.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration plans to first launch an orbiter in the 2030s before developing a Mars lander, securing core technologies step by step. Kang stated, “We plan to demonstrate a Mars orbiter using an upgraded Nuri rocket in 2033, and launch a Mars orbiter using our next-generation launch vehicle in 2035. Subsequently, we aim to secure capabilities of 6 tons based on Mars transfer orbit standards, equivalent to 23 tons based on low Earth orbit standards, to send a Mars lander in 2045.”

The next-generation launch vehicle is a new domestically-developed launch vehicle scheduled for development with a budget of 2 trillion won to launch lunar landers in 2032, following the recent successful fourth launch of the Nuri rocket. KASA’s plan is to continue from achieving lunar landing goals to Mars exploration by further enhancing performance. KASA plans to secure capabilities to carry 10 tons to low Earth orbit at 200 km altitude through the next-generation launch vehicle development project, then further advance this to 23 tons for Mars exploration. This represents seven times the performance of the current Nuri rocket (3.3 tons).

For this purpose, KASA will develop kick stages to be mounted on launch vehicles. A kick stage is a small-scale orbital transport vehicle mounted on the upper stage of launch vehicles. After reaching target orbit through the launch vehicle, exploration probes can move to precise target locations through kick stages. KASA plans to first develop kick stages for Nuri rockets capable of carrying 40-50 kg, then upgrade these for mounting on next-generation launch vehicles.

Separately, KASA announced plans to pursue sending a 500 kg Mars base using SpaceX’s high-performance launch vehicle Starship in 2030 or 2031. For this purpose, they will newly pursue the International Cooperation-based Mars Exploration Base Construction Demonstration Project. As the United States and China have already advanced to Mars and exploration competition is expected to intensify even before sending domestically-produced orbiters and landers, the administration plans to proceed with both launch vehicle technology development and international cooperation on dual tracks.

For substantial exploration after Mars missions, core technologies including Earth-Mars optical communication, Mars atmospheric entry, aerial drones, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), rock sample collection and return, space solar power wireless transmission, radioisotope thermoelectric generators, nuclear heaters, and crewed habitat construction will also be developed.