Jeonnam Province announced on the 15th that the "Goheung Space Launch Vehicle National Industrial Complex," proposed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish a hub for South Korea's space launch vehicle industry, has been selected as a development candidate site.
This is analyzed to be mainly due to the province's continuous efforts to create a space for attracting companies in connection with the "Space Launch Vehicle Industry Cluster" designated last December, as Goheung is home to the Naro Space Center, the only domestic space launch site.
The "Goheung Space Launch Vehicle National Industrial Complex" will be developed by 2030 over an area of 1.73 million square meters in the Onnaro-do area of Bongrae-myeon, Goheung, with an investment of 380 billion KRW.
It is expected to house upstream and downstream companies involved in space launch vehicle assembly and parts manufacturing, as well as launch vehicle research institutions.
Once the industrial complex is established, it is expected to greatly contribute to revitalizing the regional economy by clustering anchor companies and research institutions in the space launch vehicle sector, generating a production inducement effect of 4.9 trillion KRW and employment inducement effect for about 20,000 people.
The province and Goheung County have worked to foster launch vehicle manufacturing technology and companies to meet public and private satellite launch demands, expand space industry infrastructure, and prepare spaces for company relocation.
In particular, developing the necessity and feasibility rationale for establishing a national industrial complex linked to the space launch vehicle industry cluster and actively responding to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s evaluation played a decisive role in the selection as a candidate site.
Governor Kim Young-rok said, "Once the national industrial complex is established, Jeonnam Province will become the center of South Korea’s space launch vehicle industry leading the world," and added, "We will do our best to ensure the project is successfully carried out."
Jeonnam Province plans to actively pursue designation as a national industrial complex, supplementing the project plan for the "Muan Aviation National Industrial Complex candidate site," which was put on hold due to insufficient domestic aviation industry infrastructure, by diversifying the industries to be attracted in connection with the activation of Muan International Airport and KTX routes, along with key initiatives such as the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advanced Agricultural Industry Convergence Complex" and the "International Organic Food Export Platform Establishment Project."
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