It is when there is limited government involvement in business. Businesses are privately owned and run. Less regulation by the government, more freedom to business owners.

South Korea has a free-enterprise economy. North Korea does not. Wikipedia describes the economy of North Korea by saying "North Korea's economy is a centrally planned system, i.e. the role of market allocation schemes is limited." There are no absolutes. Even in free-enterprise economies, businesses are subject to government regulation, and even in centrally planned economies, there is some amount of private ownership. In a free-enterprise economy, large-scale things happen when companies see an opportunity to make money by doing them. In the United States, space exploration began as a government endeavor--the rockets that made the first moon landings were built by the government agency, NASA. Now, some private companies such as SpaceX believe that they can make money by building and operating spacecraft. Spaceflight may be shifting from a government-planned activity to a free-enterprise activity.

자유기업free-enterprise :사업체에 대한 정부의 간섭이 없는 것. 이론적인 용어.