“Thanks to the support from the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), we were able to set up a booth in the Korea Pavilion. It was a great opportunity to network with various global space industry stakeholders and further highlight the presence of Korean space companies.”
This was the unanimous sentiment from representatives of domestic space companies at the 'International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2025,' the world's largest space industry event, which kicked off on September 29 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney in Australia. The 76th IAC, running until October 3, has drawn over 5,000 participants from the space industry in more than 90 countries worldwide.
At this year's IAC, South Korea marked its largest-ever participation with 29 companies, about a year and five months after the launch of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) last May. The expansive Korea Pavilion housed booths for 12 companies, while another 19 firms set up their own independent booths.
A representative from LUMIR, a company specializing in Earth observation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, who was met at an independent booth, said, “Coming to a stage like the International Astronautical Congress, I can truly see how high the global interest in the space industry is. It’s meaningful to have this opportunity to showcase LUMIR’s technology to space industry professionals from overseas.”
Twelve companies, including Perigee Aerospace (Perigee), which is developing its own space launch vehicle, set up booths in the Korea Pavilion to introduce their technologies to overseas buyers, researchers, and government officials.
Notably, although Perigee has not yet succeeded in a launch, it showcased a thruster for CubeSats based on its launch vehicle development technology. It is a cold gas-based CubeSat thruster derived from its space launch vehicle engine technology.
Unlike conventional propulsion systems that use high-pressure gas, the cold gas-based thruster utilizes a commercial refrigerant. This allows for efficient use of space and power, making it suitable for CubeSats, which are miniature satellites measuring 10cm in width, length, and height.
Besides Perigee, 12 other companies in the Korea Pavilion each flaunted their unique technologies. These included 'IOPS,' specializing in AI-based satellite operations and software development; 'SpaceLinQ,' which introduced a biopharmaceutical research platform for microgravity environments; 'RainbirdGEO,' capable of forecasting localized heavy rain within an hour through satellite image analysis; 'Kencoa Aerospace,' a company specializing in materials for the space sector; and 'InssTek,' which produces space components using 3D printing. All were busy welcoming global space industry professionals who visited the Korea Pavilion.
A large number of companies also participated with separate booths, including the microsatellite company Nara Space, which is preparing for its public listing, as well as Danam Systems, Satrec Initiative, Intergravity Technology, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hanyang ENG, and LIG Nex1. Spacebeam, participating in IAC for the first time, revealed its ambition to knock on the door of the global market with its 'laser optical communication' technology as its key weapon.
A KASA official stated, “We provided as much support as possible to ensure that many Korean companies could introduce their technologies on a major stage like the International Astronautical Congress. We hope this will lead to various forms of international cooperation, which is essential in the space industry.”
