South Korea has unveiled 29 candidate landing sites for its upcoming 2032 lunar exploration missions, targeting ancient impact basins, water-bearing craters, and volcanic lava tubes. The Korea AeroSpace Administration aims to secure critical resources and independent landing technology.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) revealed a shortlist of 29 prospective touchdown zones during the autumn academic conference of the Korean Space Science Society. The announcement marks a concrete change toward surface exploration for a nation executing its decade-long, 530 billion won ($385 million) secondary lunar exploration program.
Dividing 29 Sites For Two Landers
The agency split its targets into two distinct categories depending on the spacecraft’s primary objective.
The plan allocates nine candidate zones for a soft-landing verification probe scheduled for the first half of 2032, and 20 candidate zones for a resource-exploration lander slated for the second half of that year.
The verification craft will test touchdown safety, observe the local space environment, and monitor lunar dust. According to the Aerospace Agency, if it succeeds, the primary lander will follow later in the year carrying precision instruments to analyze local geology and test resource extraction.
Scientific analyses were conducted in line with the mission characteristics of the two landers.
Potential spots for the soft-landing verification craft were assessed regarding their capacity to shed light on how the lunar surface interacts with the space environment. This encompasses the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere, alongside monitoring the surrounding lunar dust.
The nine prospective zones for the soft-landing demonstrator are well-suited for tracking interactions involving the lunar surface’s magnetic field, the solar wind, and plasma, or for examining the electrical attributes of the Moon.
Scheduled for liftoff in the latter half of that same year, the lunar lander will execute a precise touchdown on the Moon to investigate resources, analyzing geological characteristics, mineral diversity, and chemical composition.
The two landers are being developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) as part of the Lunar Exploration Phase 2 Project,
which will invest a total of 530.34 billion won from 2024 to 2033.
The initiative seeks to gather essential insights regarding the lunar environment and build an engineering framework for in-situ resource utilization to back the upcoming establishment of a lunar economic hub.
The Korean Astronautical Society, the Geological Society of Korea, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute were tasked by the Space Agency with evaluating the nine demonstration vessel sites alongside the twenty landing vehicle locations.
Korean Planners Select Lunar Landing Sites
Korean planners selected a strategically varied grid spanning impact basins, basaltic plains, and deep pit craters.
Lacus Mortis — often called the Lake of Death — is included among the candidate sites for both spacecraft and features collapsed lava tubes that scientists view as potential natural shelters against radiation and meteoroids.
Clavius stands out as another top candidate, representing one of the oldest and most expansive craters on the moon, where researchers previously spotted signs of water molecules bound inside the dirt.
Additional options feature Harpalus Crater, holding a comparatively high concentration of “KREEP” matter — consisting of potassium, phosphorus, and rare earth elements, alongside thorium — which provides insights into how magma cooling shaped the lunar crust.
Mare Humboldtianum holds an abundance of iron and could serve investigations into mineral layouts across the lunar terrain and the progression of geological evolution.
Evaluating and debating candidate landing sites is a critical step toward ensuring the success of our 2032 lunar lander mission,
Kang Kyung-in, head of KASA’s space science and exploration division
We will maintain continuous dialogue with relevant experts and leverage rigorous scientific and engineering analyses to select a landing site optimized for Korea’s lunar exploration goals.
Kang Kyung-in, head of KASA’s space science and exploration division
Balancing Science And Engineering
Selecting a final touchdown point requires reconciling high-yield scientific targets with harsh mechanical realities.
Specialists assessed prospective zones based on landing safety and surface terrain.
Even a location offering substantial exploration value might present hurdles for an actual touchdown and mission tasks if the ground is exceptionally uneven or communication proves difficult.
All candidate sites are located at 40-70 degrees north or south.
They are concentrated in the middle and high latitudes because the mid- and high-altitude sun rises and sets low, giving a long mission period and allowing the lander to be used flexibly.
The objective focuses on gathering foundational data concerning the lunar surroundings and creating a technological base for harnessing local materials necessary for constructing future lunar economic hubs.
The moon hosts diverse resources such as water, oxygen, rare earths, and helium-3, drawing widespread interest as a foundation for future economies as leading nations advance their lunar probes.