To infinity and beyond!

When I heard the announcement of the annual Philippine Space Week, scheduled for Aug. 8-14, it reminded me of the UN flag that the first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon, took to the International Space Station in 2008. Upon returning, she presented the flag to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during Mr. Ban’s first homecoming visit to Korea. Carrying the UN flag to her space mission embodied the prevailing spirit contained in the Moon Agreement (formally referred to as “1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies”), which states that “the moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind.” At the flag presentation ceremony, she said, “Looking at our planet from above, you realize how small we are. The experience is so humbling.” Mr. Ban often referred to this sentiment, saying, “Remember, we’re all earthlings, after all.”

In late May, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), Korea’s version of NASA, was launched. This space agency of Korea aims to unify space policy and projects, transforming Korea into a global space powerhouse. It was Korea’s proverbial small step in its giant leap toward becoming a leading space economy. Though Korea’s journey actually began over 30 years ago, its space-bound efforts have gained steam in recent years. In May 2021, Korea became the tenth country to sign the Artemis Accords, a practical set of principles to guide cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s 21st-century lunar exploration plans. In May 2023, Korea launched a commercial-grade satellite with its domestically produced KSLV-II Nuri rocket. At the opening ceremony of KASA, President Yoon announced plans to send a space exploration vehicle to the moon by 2032 and plant a national flag on Mars by 2045, Korea’s centennial year of independence.

Space technologies can tackle many of the world’s most pressing business and societal challenges. In April, a World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company report showed that lower costs and improved access to space-enabled technologies such as communications; positioning, navigation and timing and Earth observation services could take the global space economy to $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023. At the recent publication of his book, “The Space Economy,” translated into Korean, Chad Anderson, founder and managing partner at Space Capital, emphasized the critical role of space technology for national and economic security, noting that “the space economy will be the next multi-trillion-dollar industry.”

Space industry around the world has shifted to a private sector-led model and is advancing at an impressive pace. In this regard, it is apropos to this trend that KASA will prioritize efforts to empower the private sector in leading commercial space development in the country. Perigee Aerospace, a Korean startup developing small launch vehicles, and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), since signing an MOU in 2022, have been fostering cooperation in various areas, including launch collaboration and space education. Exploring economic and scientific cooperation projects with emerging space countries is one of KASA’s goals. To this end, Korea and the Philippines are well-poised to reap the benefits from collaborating in space technology.

My visit to PhilSA in May, which coincided with the launch of KASA, enabled me to find substantial areas for future partnership in space technology and the space economy between our two nations. The Philippines, through PhilSA, focuses on improving internet connectivity, disaster response, agricultural productivity and maritime domain awareness using satellite technology. Korea, with its advanced space technology and established satellite programs, can provide the expertise to support these efforts.

For example, at a recent meeting with the experts and professionals at the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) based in UP Los Baños, I had a glimpse of satellite technology’s transformative impact on agriculture. AI-powered satellite imagery can aid precision agriculture, enabling informed decisions amidst climate change. Cloud storage and mobile apps democratize data access, optimizing yields and sustainably securing food supplies. These innovations and ingenuity, akin to what was depicted in the 2015 film The Martian – where astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) demonstrated survival on Mars – hint at the future of agriculture via space technology.

It is reassuring that the major spacefaring partners have also identified the Philippines as a promising destination for collaboration. In April 2023, the EU selected the Philippines as the first ASEAN nation to partner with its Copernicus Earth observation program, providing free environmental and climate data from Sentinel satellites to enhance the resilience of the Filipino economy and society. On May 2, 2024, the Philippines and the United States held their inaugural Space Dialogue in Washington, DC, focusing on civil space cooperation, including maritime domain awareness and space situational awareness. This dialogue expands Philippines-US collaboration in utilizing space-based Earth observation data for socio-economic applications like weather forecasting, agricultural planning, climate monitoring, disaster response, resource management and telecommunications.

Earlier this year, I witnessed a significant collaboration in space technology involving Korea, the Philippines and the US. Invited by the DENR and PhilSA, I attended the Philippine segment of NASA’s air quality mission. NASA deployed two aircraft to sample air quality, and PhilSA verified data from them with readings from Korea-provided technology – the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and Pandora instruments.

Designed for technology transfer, data-sharing and capacity-building initiative on air pollution, employing GEMS data aboard Korea’s GEO-KOMPSAT-2B satellite, complemented by ground-based remote sensing instruments called Pandora, the collaboration is a milestone project between Korea and the Philippines. Launched by Korea in 2020, GEMS is the first geostationary satellite system that monitors air pollution levels in Asia, including the Philippines. It is encouraging that Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano Jr., director general of PhilSA, and I will attend the Pandora set handover ceremony on Aug. 12, during Space Week.

“…I ended up in a future you wouldn’t recognize….filled with technology you can’t imagine…This is a new now that’s never been lived.” This is my favorite quote from the 2022 Disney movie Lightyear, which illustrates the uncharted path new space technology can take us. In closing this piece, I echo the eternal words of Robert Frost from his poem The Road Not Taken:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

*      *      *

Lee Sang-hwa is the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines.