Korea Aerospace University (KAU) signed an MOU with the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), a government-funded research agency, on Jan. 4 at the KICT headquarters and agreed to collaborate on establishing an aerospace industry ecosystem. The signing ceremony was attended by KAU President Hurr Hee-young, KICT President Park Sun-kyu, and other officials from both institutions.

Under this agreement, the two institutions will collaborate on various initiatives, including spaceport construction, mobility solutions for space exploration, and identifying joint R&D projects in the space sector. As their first joint initiative, KAU and KICT will apply for the Global Top Strategic Research support program organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST).

Since 2016, KICT has been conducting research on space construction, aiming to develop core construction technologies capable of withstanding extreme extraterrestrial environments. It operates the world’s largest dusty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC). Meanwhile, KAU boasts numerous faculty members with extensive experience in satellite projects and large-scale launch vehicle system development. With these combined strengths, the two institutions anticipate achieving significant research breakthroughs in core space technologies, including spaceport construction and the development of lunar exploration vehicles.

KAU President Hurr demonstrated his confidence in the collaboration at the signing ceremony, stating, “KAU is an aerospace university filled with research personnel and professors rich in experiences in satellite and projectile system development, making us stand out from other universities in creating actual research performance, and contributing to fostering field-adaptive talents and carrying out joint technology research.’ He proposed further prospects, adding, “Because both KAU and KICT are both located in Goyang, we will be able to cooperate on Gyeonggi-do’s Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE) and establish Korea’s only cluster dedicated to spaceport construction research, which will assist implementing Goyang’s free economic zone.”

KICT President Park echoed these sentiments, saying, “KICT possesses construction material production technology using lunar regolith and the world’s top-tier experiment infrastructure for replicating the Moon’s terrestrial environment. This MOU will be an opportunity to further our technological research aimed at leading space construction, including developments in crewed spaceports and uncrewed construction equipment.