The Philippine Space Agency and Philippine agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea's Perigee Aerospace on March 4, 2026, to collaborate on rocket development and experimental launches in the Philippines. The agreement aims to test the feasibility of establishing a Philippine Spaceport, leveraging the country's equatorial proximity. It seeks to bolster the Philippines' capabilities in space research and engineering.
In Manila, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), along with Philippine public and private agencies, and the Republic of Korea's Perigee Aerospace, Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4, 2026. The pact focuses on collaboration for rocket development and experimental launches in the Philippines, utilizing the country's position near the Pacific Ocean and equator to potentially establish a Philippine Spaceport as a regional gateway to space.
The agreement ensures safe rocket launch and recovery operations over open waters while enhancing the Philippines' expertise in space research, engineering, rocket, and satellite development. Signatories included PhilSA Ad Interim Director General Gay Jane P. Perez, Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry R. Aguda, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator and CEO Secretary Katrina Ponce Enrile, Perigee Aerospace CEO Dong Yoon Shin, and Ascend International Gateway President Ramon C. Garcia Jr., during the Philippines–Korea Business Forum.
This builds on a know-how transfer and training program for PhilSA engineers in South Korea from October to November 2025. The 'Know-How Transfer and Training program on Small Launch Vehicle' provided classroom instruction in rocket theory and hands-on experience in subsystem assembly, marking the Philippines' shift toward active participation in the regional space sector.
The partnership stems from a 2022 MOU between PhilSA and Perigee, fostering ongoing activities in rocket technologies. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. noted that such business agreements, spanning industries like aerospace, would "ripple into significant partnerships that will generate projects, investments, and of course, livelihood."
PhilSA was established in August 2019 under Republic Act No. 11363 to develop the national space program and aligns with the Office of the President for policy coordination.
