KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The 1st In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Technology Workshop in KIGAM

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM, President Dr. Pyeong-Koo Lee) held the ‘1st In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Technology Workshop’ from May 3 to May 4.

For many years, KIGAM has conducted fundamental research projects on planetary geology and resources. We are also participating in NASA’s RESOURCE program as a foreign collaborator and conducting research on lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization since 2019.

Today’s international workshop shares research status with NASA and domestic ISRU experts based on the planning research for technology development that utilizes local space resources, which mainly conducted by KIGAM and also participated by the leading private sector, Hanwha Aerospace. The workshop finds ways to cooperate in research on ISRU technology development with NASA in the field of lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization initiated with efforts of collaborations among private industry-national institutes and academic organizations.

The workshop was very meaningful to join the world-class scholars in the ISRU field such as AMES Research Center at NASA, NASA, Johnson Space Center at NASA, Langley Research Center at NASA, and a group of domestic space resource experts participated online and offline.

Dr. Kim Kyeong-ja of KIGAM, who participates the NASA’s ISRU program as the leadinf researcher in Korea said, "Since 2008, research on lunar resources that has been conducted steadily, and resulted in Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO)'s payload technology such as gamma-ray spectroscopy. We will do our best to secure lunar/Mars and deep space resources in the future by strengthening cooperation and establishing a full-cycle research system for the lunar ISRU."