On June 11th, 2009 the Naro Space Center opened in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, making Korea the 13th country in the world to have its own rocket launch pad. The Naro Space Center represented the foundation for Korea to launch a rocket built with homegrown technology and the potential of Korea becoming a superpower in the aerospace industry. Korea's space development program began with the launch of a mini satellite, KITSAT-1, in 1992. Since then, Korea has developed 11 other satellites, with six still remaining in operation. The successful launch of the Naro-1 rocket in January of 2013, Korea got that much closer to reaching its goal of exploring space on its own. Although Korea joined aerospace development efforts rather belatedly, the country continues its march toward the goal of exploring the moon by 2020.
