South Korea and the United States plan to jointly develop a payload for a lunar lander scheduled to reach the Moon in 2024

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, a partnership to launch the project was signed on Tuesday between the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute(KASI) and the U.S.' National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). 

NASA is seeking to land astronauts on the Moon in 2024 and to that end plans to launch nine lunar landers beginning next year to conduct the necessary research.

Under the partnership, U.S. private firms will construct the main body for them with various payloads to be developed by U.S. and foreign partners under NASA's supervision.

Choi Won-ho, a senior ministry official overseeing the project, said the South Korean government plans to expand investment into space technologies while actively participating in multinational space exploration projects.