Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) announced that its Korea Institute of Astronautics (KIFA) is expanding its international cooperation network in human space exploration and space life sciences/space medicine by successively signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with space industry companies and research institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom.

KIFA recently signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with the U.S. commercial space company Titans Space Industries Inc. This agreement covers joint research and technological cooperation across deep space projects, including lunar and Martian exploration, extending beyond commercial space activities in low Earth orbit (LEO). The two organizations plan to cooperate in areas such as future astronaut selection, training, and management; space mission execution; and scientific and technological information exchange. They aim to progressively strengthen domestic capabilities in manned space development and commercial space activities.

Additionally, KIFA signed a cooperation MOU with the Space Innovation Lab (SIL) at the University of Oxford in the UK. SIL is a space medicine research team led by Professor Ghada Alsaleh. Through this agreement, KIFA and SIL will jointly pursue human research based on the International Space Station (ISS) and co-host international academic conferences. The institute explained that this collaboration is expected to serve as an example of integrating space medicine and human physiological adaptation research into Korea's space strategy.

Additionally, KIFA signed an academic cooperation agreement with Purdue University in the United States in the field of space life sciences. The agreement focuses on core research topics such as human survival in space environments, life support systems, and space food production technologies. It includes joint research in space plant (food) cultivation, fungal-based bioproduction, and astrobiotechnology systems, as well as the dissemination of results through international symposia.

Professor David William Kim, President of KIFA, Professor Marshall D. Porterfield of Purdue University, and Professor Ghada Al-Salé of Oxford University's SIL are participating as key leaders in this international collaboration. The institute stated that the three institutions plan to jointly pursue research on human adaptation technologies, mental health, and biological production systems applicable in lunar and deep space environments, linked to NASA and ISS-related research projects.

KIFA added that this series of MOU signings is expected to mark a turning point in strengthening comprehensive space development capabilities, expanding beyond the launch vehicle and satellite-centered phase to include human space exploration, space life sciences, and space medicine.