First Vice Science Minister Cho Seong-kyung embarked on a nine-day visit to the United States and Europe on Thursday to discuss international space cooperation ahead of the establishment of the South Korea’s independent aerospace agency, the science ministry said.
The visit comes just about a week after the National Assembly passed a set of bills to launch a full-fledged space agency, named the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), in May.
Cho will first visit the European Space Agency (ESA) headquartered in Paris and meet with ESA chief Josef Aschbacher to deliver South Korea’s intention to join the ESA-led space projects, including the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) project, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
JUICE is an interplanetary spacecraft tasked with making detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons, according to the ESA.
Cho will also visit the French space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, to discuss possible measures to improve cooperati
on between the two countries’ aerospace companies.
Following the trip to Europe, the vice minister will travel to the U.S. to meet with the deputy administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Pam Melroy, to discuss expanding South Korea’s participation in NASA’s moon exploration Artemis project, according to the ministry.
Source: Yonhap News Agency