South Korea greenlights Hanwha to utilize lunar resources

Hanwha Aerospace became the first South Korean space company to win government approval to utilize resources in space, such as on the moon and Mars, the company said Thursday.

According to the defense business unit of Hanwha Group, the firm signed an in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, agreement with six government-funded research bodies.

ISRU refers to using local materials in space and producing necessary items required for space exploration on site, such as water, oxygen, solar cells, construction materials and rocket fuel.

The deal will allow Hanwha to take initiative in Korea‘s ISRU on the moon, as the nation is one of 12 members of the Artemis project.

Led by NASA, the Artemis project aims to put astronauts on the lunar surface by 2024 and establish a sustainable human base camp there by 2030.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)