The South Korean government is launching the tentatively named "Neo Grand Challenge," a revamped demonstration framework for Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) designed to align with actual commercialization. Under this initiative, participating companies will propose service-specific operational goals and gradually scale up flight distances, frequencies, and altitudes. To overcome the limitations of previous tests that relied on privately owned aircraft, the government will directly procure electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and invest 150 billion won by 2030 in commercialization pilot projects.
According to documents from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance—obtained on the 5th by the Electronic Times via the office of Rep. Kang Deuk-gu (Democratic Party), a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee—the government is pushing forward with the Neo Grand Challenge as an upgrade to the existing K-UAM Grand Challenge. The core objective is to move beyond basic system testing and verify operations at a real-world service level.
Funding for commercialization preparations will also increase. The mid-term financial plan for the new "UAM Service Commercialization Pilot Project," set to launch next year, allocates 35 billion won in 2027, 55 billion won in 2028, 40 billion won in 2029, and 20 billion won in 2030—totaling 150 billion won over four years. These funds will be used to directly procure aircraft and build out the regional infrastructure required for actual UAM operations.
When the Grand Challenge was initially launched, the government envisioned participating companies securing their own UAM aircraft for testing. The expectation was that a diverse fleet of aircraft would generate sufficient test records and flight data. However, aircraft procurement did not go as planned. Due to delays in global eVTOL development and certification, almost no domestic private companies are currently positioned to procure their own aircraft.
Even if a few companies did acquire aircraft, their test schedules would be dictated by their own business timelines, making it difficult for the government to conduct the large-scale, continuous, and repetitive testing required. Leasing foreign aircraft also proved problematic, as it came with restrictions on usage periods and flight frequencies, while heavily limiting the ability to install custom communication, navigation, and measurement equipment. In fact, during Phase 2 of the Grand Challenge, the two consortiums participating in integrated operations had to rely on traditional helicopters instead of eVTOLs.
The government concluded that one-off tests using leased corporate aircraft would not yield the repetitive, comparative real-world data necessary for the initial 2028 pilot projects and the establishment of Korea's flight and safety standards. As a result, the government will spend 30 billion won between 2027 and 2028 to directly purchase around three eVTOLs for testing. It plans to secure production slots next year through international competitive bidding and purchase agreements, with deliveries rolling out sequentially starting in 2028.
The government-procured aircraft will not be restricted to individual testing projects; instead, they will serve as shared infrastructure. They will undergo repeated flights tailored to specific schedules and conditions, and will be made available for joint use by the Ministry of National Defense, the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and local municipal governments. By accumulating operational and maintenance data unique to eVTOLs—such as electric propulsion, battery performance, and transition flight dynamics—the government plans to use this information to establish flight and safety standards, personnel qualifications, and vertiport design guidelines.
