South Korea is joining the new space race with plans for a moon base and Mars landing – both by 2045.
As of mid-2025, no country has a permanent moon base. Well, not yet, anyway.
However, below the radar, there is a space race, of sorts, going on.
South Korea's Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) was recently founded in 2024, and its ambitions stretch well into the future.
The agency’s ambitious new roadmap includes building a lunar base by 2045 and landing on Mars the same year.
The agency is running five key mission areas – low Earth orbit, microgravity science, lunar exploration, solar science, and deep space tech.
From coal mines to moon mines
South Korea is already field-testing space mining rovers – inside an abandoned coal mine – it’s part simulation, part resourceful recycling of old infrastructure.
Engineers are using the mine to mimic lunar conditions like dust, darkness, and uneven terrain.
As a result, KASA wants to develop tech for extracting water, ice, and other lunar resources, demonstrating that resource extraction is key to building a sustainable lunar economy.
This includes new-generation robotic landers, with one set to debut by 2040.
These landers would ferry equipment, supplies, and possibly autonomous mining bots. Designs are being built with rough lunar terrain and long-term operations in mind.
Danuri – South Korea’s moon scout in orbit
Danuri – short for “moon enjoy” in Korean – is South Korea’s first lunar mission (and vessel) officially known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO).
It was launched in 2022 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carries six scientific instruments, including a NASA-supplied camera.
Its tasks include mapping terrain, identifying future landing sites, studying magnetic fields, and testing deep-space internet.
Danuri is doing the quiet groundwork – laying the tech and data foundations for South Korea’s future moon landers and, eventually, its 2045 lunar base.
Lunar arms race (with a side of Mars)
NASA’s Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon by 2026 and build a permanent lunar base camp by the 2030’s – in collaboration with ESA, JAXA, and others.
South Korea joins the Moon base race alongside the US (Artemis), China-Russia (ILRS), and India – with a 2045 target.
It is also aiming for a Mars landing that same year, putting it in direct competition with global space giants.
For countries like South Korea, the moon represents a strategic, scientific, and economic stepping stone, in terms of significant steps forward in economic progress.
It’s the 21st-century equivalent of building aircraft carriers or nuclear submarines.
The lunar rush is about more than science – it’s a race for resources, tech leadership, and a foothold in the off-Earth economy.
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