The government vowed on Monday to invest 1.6 billion won ($ 1.43 million) over the next three years to nurture qualified professionals in the satellite industry.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has partnered with the Satellite Technology Research Center of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to jointly develop new training courses for selected postgraduate students and researchers.

The ministry said it was seeking to increase manpower in the space industry from roughly 2,000 to 5,000 by 2020.

Korea made major strides earlier this year by successfully launching its first locally assembled space rocket KSLV-1 from its own soil for the first time.

The science ministry is set to launch the country’s first radar-equipped Earth observation satellite from Russia on Aug. 22. It also aims to develop a 100 kilogram class micro satellite by 2016 with a total budget of 35 billion won.

(596story@heraldcorp.com)