South Korea is scouting out the moon, with more missions to come

South Korea set off for the moon on Thursday. But it doesn’t want to stop there.

“We are also considering using the moon as an outpost for space exploration,” Kwon Hyun-joon, director general of space and nuclear energy at South Korea’s Ministry of Science, said in a written response to questions. “Although we hope to explore the moon itself, we also recognize its potential to act as a base for further deep space exploration such as Mars and beyond.”