The Korea Institute of Energy Research held a ‘Multilateral Business Agreement for Private and Government-Funded (KIER) In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)’ with five government-funded science and technology institutions and Hanwha Aerospace’ at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources on September 8 (Wed).

This agreement is to strengthen the research cooperation in the space field between the private sector and the government-funded research institute and to establish a cooperative system for the development of convergence technology for the use of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)** for participation in Artemis*.
* Artemis : A US-led international manned lunar exploration program with the goal of sending astronauts to the moon by 2024 and building a sustainable manned base on the moon by the 2030s.
** In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) : A facility (system) that uses local resources on space planets such as the Moon or Mars to produce necessary materials. It is possible to produce resources such as water, oxygen, and solar cells so it’s emerged as a promising future energy source.

The main areas of cooperation are ▲Participation in the Artemis program related to In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) ▲Cooperation in specialized areas for each institution to develop useful resource extraction demonstration payload ▲Cooperation in early/long-term plant construction using local resources on the Moon and Mars.