The United States and the Republic of Korea reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their alliance through further space cooperation, including joint research in space exploration and science, Earth observation, and enhanced regulatory alignment.
Officials from both countries met in Washington, DC for the fourth U.S.-ROK Civil Space Dialogue, which aimed to enhance their partnership in advancing the peaceful exploration and use of space. The two sides discussed enhancing space exploration cooperation in Artemis and other missions, with progress made on implementing a study agreement on future Artemis cooperation.
The ROK's activities to develop and mature Korean human spaceflight capabilities were also a topic of discussion, with plans to explore potential human spaceflight opportunities to low Earth orbit. Furthermore, the two sides discussed recent space science cooperation, including implementing the September 2024 NASA-KASA study agreement on cooperation for a potential KASA-led Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 4 Mission.
In Earth observation, the two sides continued collaboration on future next-generation meteorological geostationary satellites and potential ROK participation in the U.S. Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative. They also highlighted successful collaborations, such as the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of the Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ) mission from 2024.
The two countries also strengthened their partnership in astronomy and space weather, including ROK cooperation in NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission and NOAA's Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) mission. They intend to further enhance efforts in key technologies to improve space weather prediction and forecasting capabilities.
In addition to space exploration and science, the U.S. pledged to continue support for the ROK's development of the Korean Positioning System (KPS), an interoperable regional system that complements the Global Navigation Satellite System. The two countries also discussed enhancing maritime domain awareness, cooperation on information and infrastructure between the U.S. National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office and the Korea Coast Guard, and advancing the peaceful exploration and use of space at the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
The next U.S.-ROK Civil Space Dialogue is set to take place in 2027, with the ROK hosting the event. The two sides plan to continue meeting every two years to share standards and best practices for leveraging space situational awareness capabilities to improve spaceflight safety and sustainability.
The meeting was attended by representatives from various government agencies, including the Department of State, NASA, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce, the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, and the Federal Communications Commission. The ROK delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the Rural Development Administration, the Korea Coast Guard, and the Korea Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.