Parliament’s Science and ICT cmte. passes bills for establishment of new space agency

‘한국판 NASA’ 우주항공청 설치법 국회 과방위 통과 9일 본회의 통과할 듯 The country takes a step towards launching its ambitious space agency. This as related bills got a green light from a parliamentary committee today that sets the legal basis. Our National Assembly correspondent Lee Shi-hoo explains. South Korea is one step closer to launching a new space agency. The National Assembly’s Science and ICT Committee on Monday passed bills to establish a new space agency, that the Science Ministry has dubbed the Korea Aerospace Administration or KASA. The bills passed are the special act for the establishment and operation of the agency and the revision to the existing Space Development Promotion Act. According to the bills, the new space agency will carry out policymaking, industry promotion, international cooperation, and more in the field of aerospace. It will start with fewer than 300 personnel but will grow its size through active recruitment. The agency will fall under the Ministry of Science and ICT, and will also be monitored by the National Space Committee. The existing Korea Aerospace Research Institute and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute will now belong to the new agency, but the physical transfer of the institutions will require approval by the parliament. Both KARI and KASA will carry out research and development. The two main parties had conflicting views on this, with the ruling People Power Party insisting the space agency should carry out R&D projects that KARI isn’t able to, and the main opposition Democratic Party opposing this idea, saying it would create unnecessary overlap. The lawmakers eventually agreed to allow KARI to carry out its existing research and KASA to carry out other R&D projects. If the bills are approved at the plenary session on Tuesday, the space agency in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province could start operations as early as May. Lee Shi-hoo, Arirang News. #NASA #NationalAssembly #Space_agency #Science #국회 #우주_항공청 #과기부 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-01-08, 18:00 (KST)