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How Korea Is Engineering Its Way Into Space
Today’s space race is shaped by national ecosystems, from launch infrastructure and industrial policy to education, financing, and international partnerships.
Private space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin often dominate headlines, but their success depends on far more than billionaire founders and cutting-edge rockets. Today’s space race is shaped by national ecosystems, from launch infrastructure and industrial policy to education, financing, and international partnerships.
In this video, Darcie Draudt‑Véjares examines how countries build space programs in an increasingly crowded and competitive domain, and why South Korea offers a compelling case study of late entry, strategic coordination, and technological leapfrogging.
As space becomes more commercial, multilateral, and resource-intensive, the question is no longer who can launch but who can build the ecosystem to sustain it.
Want to learn more? Check out the paper by Darcie and her co-author, Kaylin Kim: https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/research/2025/10/south-koreas-industrial-policy-for-the-new-space-economy
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