The U.S. Space Force entered into a memorandum of agreement with the South Korean air force to strengthen the two countries’ space security cooperation and create a joint space policy consultative body, SpaceNews reported Monday.
Gen. Park In-ho, chief of staff for South Korea's air force, and Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, USSF's chief of space operations and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, signed the agreement at a bilateral meeting that took place Friday at Peterson AF Base in Colorado.
Under the MOA, the two agencies established a foundation to further improve military cooperation in space policy, space data sharing and technological support.
Park also met with Gen. James Dickinson, commander of the U.S. Space Command, to discuss missile defense and space capabilities and space surveillance data sharing for the expansion of bilateral space domain recognition.
The South Korean defense acquisition program administration released a roadmap on Aug. 19 indicating the country's plan invest $13.6 billion in space defense efforts.
This comes after the United States terminated in May the 42-year-old restriction imposed on South Korea to develop ballistic missiles that can go beyond the reaching targets at the Korean Peninsula.
GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host a virtual event on Sept. 14 about acquisition reform and modernization initiatives in the space domain. Visit the GCW Events page to register for the Space Acquisition Forum.