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By Kang Jae-eun

SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has important capabilities and the industrial base to back NASA's ambitious plan to build a lunar surface base, an executive of the U.S. Space Agency's Moon Base program said Wednesday.

Carlos Garcia-Galan, the program manager, made the remarks at a press conference held in southern Seoul, which came on the sidelines of a joint workshop with the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) on the Artemis Moon to Mars lunar exploration initiative.

"Korea has a strong history in telecommunications satellite systems. ... (It is also) the industrial base for robotics, the mobility systems, as well as the scientific research and sensors," he said when asked which areas NASA thinks South Korea can be involved in regarding the Moon Base program.

South Korea's KASA has been bridging collaborations with the local industry, and the U.S. space agency plans to build on such partnerships, the executive added.

NASA's latest endeavor is set to run through 2032 and beyond, and will be built in three phases. The first one will focus on sending robots, drones and other exploration equipment to the moon to gather knowledge of the lunar surface by 2029.

The U.S. space agency is currently preparing Artemis 3, a crewed low Earth orbit demonstration scheduled for launch in 2027, aimed at practicing docking with commercial lunar landers.

In 2021, South Korea became the 10th country to sign the Artemis Accords, aimed at establishing a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA's latest lunar exploration plans.

fairydust@yna.co.kr

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