SEOUL, The parliamentary science committee passed a set of bills Monday aimed at establishing an independent space and aerospace agency to lead the country’s burgeoning program, such as exploration projects to the moon and Mars.

The envisioned agency, named the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), will function as the local version of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The agency is expected to be launched in Sacheon, 296 kilometers south of Seoul, around May or June, as bills take effect four months after their proclamation.

The bills will later be deliberated by the legislation and judiciary committee and then put to a vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Under the proposal, KASA will operate under the Ministry of Science and ICT and be overseen by the presidential science advisory committee.

The plan was pushed forward as part of the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s long-term strategy to seek future growth momentum and establish South Korea’s presence on the
world stage amid fierce competition for space projects worldwide.

Two existing space-related institutes — the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute — will be incorporated into KASA.

The bill has been pending in the parliamentary science committee for nearly nine months as rival parties have been at odds over the scope of KASA’s research and development (RandD) role.

The ruling People Power Party has argued that KASA should be responsible for a wide scope of RandD, while the main opposition Democratic Party has argued that KASA’s role can be overlapped by existing agencies.

Source: Yonhap News Agency