Ibadan, 13 March 2023. – The Korean Government is set to establish a fund to support private space startups, according to local sources. According to the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, the Government will create a 50 billion won fund ($38.5 million) by 2027 to invest in the private space sector. The Korea Venture Investment Corp will operate this fund.
As a result, the ministry will accept applications from potential asset operators for the fund from April 3 to 7, 2023. The goal is to build a 50-billion-won fund by 2027, with an initial investment of 5 billion won to raise a 10-billion-won fund of funds this year.
According to the Ministry, “While many private space startups are leading the new space era overseas, the local space industry is still in its infancy, and therefore the majority of local space companies are small or in their early stage.” Therefore, the program aims to foster the private space sector in the private-led new space era.
Furthermore, Cho Sun-hak, director general of the space and big science policy division at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “In order to put the Korean space economy on track, vitalizing the private space startup ecosystem is essential. We expect the fund will be at the forefront of pioneering the space economy.”
