For decades, space was an object of exploration. It is now essential infrastructure: Earth observation, secure communications, and precise navigation sit beneath a country’s defense, its supply chains, and its response to climate and disaster. That turns access to orbit into a question of national capability rather than scientific ambition.
It also turns dependence into a risk. A nation that cannot launch its own satellites, hold its own orbital positions, or secure its own frequency spectrum relies on other states for capabilities it cannot afford to lose, and those positions and that spectrum are finite and increasingly contested. Securing them is what space sovereignty means in practice, which is the ability to reach and operate in orbit on a country’s own terms.
“Space has transitioned from exploration into the realm of industry,” says Kim, “and now it has expanded even further into an issue directly tied to national security and space sovereignty.”
Korea has moved to establish that independence, securing sovereign launch through the Nuri rocket program, with a next-generation reusable vehicle, the KSLV-III, in development.