SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks at his mobile phone during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in this January 2020 file photo. Reuters-Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

SpaceX appears to be focusing more on the Korean market amid its ongoing efforts to launch Starlink ― a satellite internet service ― here by 2023, according to industry officials, Friday.

The American spacecraft manufacturer led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently allowed Mirae Asset Financial Group to become one of its investors. Mirae Asset said Thursday that the group's board of directors decided to invest $100 million in the Mirae Asset Global Space Investment Fund 1.

The fund is expected to support SpaceX's development of space rockets and satellite internet services, making Mirae Asset the first Korean financial institution to invest in the U.S. firm, according to industry officials.

"It has been difficult for investors outside of the U.S. to get an opportunity to acquire stakes in the world's leading private spaceflight company, due to security reasons," a capital market insider said.

A couple of weeks earlier, a senior manager of SpaceX in charge of market access reportedly visited the Ministry of Science and ICT to enquire about regulations on offering satellite internet services in Korea.

The executive made the visit after SpaceX announced its plan to start offering Starlink services in Korea by 2023. The company also indicated its intention to enter the Korean market earlier this year, when several Korean lawmakers visited its headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

The science ministry has remained cautious about mentioning specifics of its meeting with the SpaceX executive.

To offer Starlink in Korea, SpaceX would have to apply for the use of a certain frequency band and register as a key telecommunications business operator, both of which will take a considerable amount of time to process. Being a foreign company, it will also need to establish a subsidiary in Korea to qualify for registration.

SpaceX has shown interest in Korea's policies on frequency band allocation and procedures to qualify as a satellite service provider, according to industry officials and media reports.

In addition, the U.S. firm has been tasked with sending multiple Korean satellites into space.

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, for example, will be launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle on Aug. 3 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Korean military will also use the company's reusable rocket to launch its locally-developed reconnaissance satellite in late 2023.

Considering the difficulties in using Russia's Soyuz rockets after international economic sanctions were placed on Moscow for invading Ukraine, Korea is expected to rely heavily on SpaceX for its space missions, until the domestically developed Nuri launch vehicle is upgraded.