Jinju City Hosts the 1st 2025 International Space Industry Conference

Participation of Domestic and International Space Experts and Companies
Sharing Space Industry Policies and Technologies, Exploring Cooperation Strategies

Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Jinju City, and Sacheon City jointly hosted the "2025 International Space Industry Conference," which was organized by the Korea Space Technology Promotion Association and Gyeongnam Technopark. The event was held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, as announced on May 27.

To commemorate the 1st Aerospace Day on May 27, the event was held under the theme "Gyeongnam, the Global Aerospace Capital, Opening the Future of Coexistence and Growth!" More than 250 domestic and international stakeholders from industry, academia, research, and government in the space industry attended to share the latest space industry policies and technology trends, and to explore opportunities for cooperation.

First, Jeon Insu, Director of the Space Radiation Research Center at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), delivered a keynote speech on the transition to New Space and changes in NASA’s support policies for space companies. This was followed by a presentation from the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) on the current status of the Korean aerospace industry. Representatives from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, India, and Mexico also shared their countries’ space development policies and industry status.

In addition, leading Korean companies such as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hanwha Aerospace, Innospace, and Meissa introduced cases of domestic space technology. Companies from France, Australia, and the United States also presented on advanced space technologies and satellite applications.

Group photo of Jinju City’s 1st Aerospace Day Commemoration and the 2025 International Space Industry Conference.

In the event hall lobby, space companies from the Gyeongnam region set up promotional booths to seek opportunities for global expansion and to facilitate exchanges and cooperation among domestic and international companies.

Jinju Mayor Cho Kyu-il, who attended the opening ceremony, said in his welcoming remarks, "Jinju City is taking a proactive approach to building the space industry ecosystem by establishing infrastructure, fostering specialized talent, and attracting related companies. Based on these efforts, in March 2025, we became the first local government in Korea to successfully launch an ultra-small satellite." He added, "We will continue to provide strong support so that western Gyeongnam, home to the Korea Aerospace Administration, can grow into a key hub for the space industry through close cooperation among industry, academia, and research institutions."

Meanwhile, Jinju City began the ultra-small satellite development project in 2019 in collaboration with KTL and Gyeongsang National University, aiming to foster the local space industry and train space experts at the master's and doctoral levels at Gyeongsang National University. As a result, on March 15 at 3:43 p.m. (local time: March 14 at 11:43 p.m.), "JINJUSat-1B" was successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, making Jinju City the first local government in Korea to launch an ultra-small satellite.

As a follow-up project, the city is also developing the 6U-class "JINJUSat-2" together with Gyeongsangnam-do Province, KTL, and Gyeongsang National University. Equipped with sensors capable of detecting sea surface temperature and ocean color, it will carry out coastal monitoring missions in the Gyeongnam region. The goal is to launch in the second half of 2027 and operate the satellite for one year to contribute to nurturing local space companies and training specialized talent.

Additionally, in December 2022, Jinju City was designated as a satellite-specialized zone within the space industry cluster. The main facility of this zone, the Space Environment Test Facility, will be established in the Jinju district of Gasan, Gyeongnam Aerospace Bureau, in Jeongchon-myeon. The Space Environment Test Facility project involves relocating the infrastructure of the Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL) Space Component Testing Center to the Jinju district of Gasan, Gyeongnam Aerospace Bureau, in Jeongchon-myeon, with a total project cost of 155.4 billion KRW. This facility, expected to be completed in 2028, will be an international-standard testing facility for the New Space era and is anticipated to play a significant role in attracting space-related companies.