U.S., South Korea discuss space cooperation

WASHINGTON, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The heads of U.S. and South Korea space agencies met on Monday in Washington to discuss collaboration in aeronautics research and space exploration between the two countries, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Seung Jo Kim talked about KARI's robotic lunar mission and NASA's asteroid initiative during their first meeting, NASA said in a statement.

"Our two agencies share a mutual interest in aeronautics research, and have identified opportunities for collaboration," Bolden was quoted as saying. "We also have partnered for several years in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group and are looking forward to continued discussions on potential cooperation in space exploration."

Kim welcomed the chance to discuss opportunities for collaboration, NASA said.

Earlier this year, South Korea successfully sent its own satellite into space after successive failures in 2009 and 2010. The Asian country reportedly also plans to launch an unmanned lunar lander by 2020.

NASA's asteroid initiative, previously announced in U.S. President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, involves robotically capturing a small near-Earth asteroid and redirecting it safely to a stable lunar orbit where astronauts can explore it.

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