South Korea plans to embark on a civilian-military project next year to design a solid-fuel space launch vehicle under a broad initiative to develop the country's space defense industry, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday.

At a policy forum, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) unveiled the initiative consisting of 24 key tasks aimed at locally developing cutting-edge technologies, nurturing the space industry and strengthening civilian-military cooperation.

The initiative entails a plan to transfer the solid-fuel space rocket technology currently under development to the civilian sector in phases, which will pave the way for civil-military cooperation on the rocket development.

The state-run Agency for Defense Development has been working to develop the technology in point.

"If the technology transfer project proceeds successfully, we will be able to begin a full-fledged commercial space launch service in the mid-2020s, under which a homegrown satellite atop a space launch vehicle produced by our enterprise would lift off from our soil," DAPA said.

South Korea's military has recently been stepping up efforts to build space security capabilities, as the United States, China and other major powers beef up their presence in the emerging security realm. (Yonhap)