The world’s newest potential space agency is running into roadblocks when it comes to notching the right approvals to get going. This morning, South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, called for some pep in the step of lawmakers who have been sitting on the establishment bill for several months now.
Korea passed a law to establish the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) in March, but the parties in the country’s National Assembly are at an impasse over several nominees and unrelated issues, and the KASA bill has fallen by the wayside.
“It’s unfortunate that the opposition party’s lack of cooperation has stalled the discussion of the establishment bill for KASA, the agency slated to lead this initiative, since its submission to the National Assembly in April,” Yoon said in a speech at the first World Congress of Korean Scientists and Engineers earlier today.
- Though he didn’t specify which, Yoon said that the delays in establishing KASA are negatively affecting a planned collaborative effort with NASA.
Korea’s space ambitions: Yoon’s goals for the planned space agency waste no time in trying to catch up with other, major spacefaring nations. Per the KASA roadmap, Korea is looking to get to the Moon by 2032 and Mars by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the nation’s independence from Japan.
