Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. is a South Korean aerospace and defense company. It was originally established as a joint venture of Daewoo Heavy Industries' aerospace division, Samsung Aerospace, and Hyundai Space and Aircraft. During 1999, KAI became more independent of its founding members, acquiring their aerospace interests at the behest of the South Korean government following the financial troubles of these companies that had resulted from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Nuri, also known as KSLV-II, is a three-stage launch vehicle, the second one developed by South Korea and the successor to Naro-1 (KSLV-1). Nuri is developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). All three stages use indigenously developed launch vehicle engines, making Nuri the first indigenously developed South Korean orbital launch vehicle.