The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) has announced that the K-UAM Safe Operation System Demonstration Technology Development project – aimed at ensuring the safe operation of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) – has passed the preliminary feasibility study for national R&D projects and will be launched in 2027.
This project is the successor to the “K-UAM Safe Operation System Core Technology Development” project, which is currently underway from 2024 to 2026. While the previous project focused on developing core technologies and manufacturing prototypes for safe UAM operations, this new project focuses on advancing these technologies to enable their integration, verification and demonstration within actual operational environments.
The project will be carried out over three years, from 2027 to 2029, with a total budget of KRW 84.8 billion. Funding will be sourced from the central government (KRW 57.8 billion), the private sector (KRW 17.6 billion) and local governments (KRW 9.4 billion KRW).
“This project goes beyond mere individual technology development; it aims to advance the system into a robust safe operation framework suitable for future commercial services by integrating and verifying essential technologies, such as traffic management, flight information, weather data and vertiport systems, within real-world operational environments,” MOLIT said.
The project is being carried out by MOLIT, which oversees the development of safe operation technologies; the Korea Meteorological Administration, which handles the development of weather observation and forecasting technologies; and Ulsan Metropolitan City, which is responsible for establishing the demonstration environment.
MOLIT plans to pursue the commercialisation of initial UAM services by 2028, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for full commercialisation, including regulatory frameworks, infrastructure and a skilled workforce. Through this R&D initiative, the Ministry aims to continuously demonstrate and advance safe operation technologies, thereby securing the technical foundation for UAM operations in urban centres by 2032.
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