Representatives from around the world pushing for the privately-driven New Space in space development gathered in Daejeon. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from various fields, including launch vehicle development, ground station operations, satellite data analysis, and space security, along with academic experts and research organization officials, shared trends in the space industry and sought ways to advance.
On the morning of the 4th, domestic space corporation CONTEC held the opening ceremony of the International Space Summit 2025 (ISS 2025) at the Daejeon Convention Center. ISS 2025 is a platform for CONTEC to invite domestic and international aerospace corporations to share visions for the New Space era and exchange information.
The ISS was first held in 2023 and is growing in scale each year. This year, over 3,000 aerospace industry officials from more than 40 countries attended. ChosunBiz participated in the event as a media partner.
Lee Seong-hee, chairman of CONTEC, said, "The ISS will be an important stage that leads the flow of the space industry beyond a simple academic event," adding, "Compared to two years ago when it was first held, more space corporations have been established, and this event was held to support them in shining bright."
Space industry officials attending the event emphasized the need for more exchanges and cooperation in the New Space era. Lee Sang-cheol, head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), noted, "The space development driven by the government is now transitioning into an era where active innovation from the private sector contributes to a new market in the space industry," and added, "As space development continues to innovate, the competition for technological supremacy is becoming increasingly fierce."
Lee Geon-wan, director of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), said, "How we utilize space is becoming key to national security," and emphasized, "Sustainable space ecosystems must be created through cooperation among the government, private sector, academia, and the international community."
The ISS 2025 runs for three days from the 3rd to the 5th. During this period, sessions and panel discussions featuring domestic and foreign experts will take place on topics such as launch vehicles and satellite services, satellite communications, lunar exploration missions, ground stations, and space security. Representatives from major domestic space corporations, including CONTEC, INNOSPACE, KT SAT, Hanwha Systems, and LIG Nex1, will participate in the sessions, and various international space companies like Rocket Lab, Exotrail, Aerospace Lab, Gomspace, Iceye, and Sharpen Data Systems will also be involved.
During the event, booths of participating corporations will be set up to enable domestic and international space industry officials to share information and seek collaboration. CONTEC, which hosted the event, is also strengthening partnerships by signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with overseas space corporations.
On the 3rd, CONTEC signed an MOU with Infostella, a Japanese satellite ground station operation platform company, to cooperate in the ground station-based satellite communication service field known as GSaaS (Ground Station as a Service). A CONTEC official noted, "This is part of a strategic collaboration aimed at providing a more stable and flexible communication infrastructure to satellite operation customers worldwide."
On the same day, CONTEC also signed an MOU with MetaSensing, an Italian company specializing in high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Through this agreement, CONTEC plans to begin developing its own SAR satellite. On the 4th, it also signed an MOU with Warpspace, a Japanese space optical communication startup, to verify next-generation optical communication technology. CONTEC has recently established next-generation optical communication-based ground stations in Australia and Jeju.