Even with Hundreds of Satellites, They Must Be Connected to Be Valuable [Reading Science]

In the New Space Era, South Korea Rapidly Emerges as a Satellite Power
However, Satellite Data Utilization Remains at a 'Beginner' Level Due to Security Regulations
Need to Build Open Platforms and Enhance Quality Using Advanced Technologies

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The recent Russia-Ukraine war has marked the dawn of the 'New Space Era,' where the private sector becomes the center of space development. In particular, satellite images captured by private companies have highlighted the importance of satellite information by informing the world of the situation in real time and even changing the course of the war. In space powers around the world, industries that provide useful services by utilizing information collected through public and private satellites are already thriving. South Korea, with a satellite development history of over 30 years, is quantitatively joining the ranks of satellite powers. More Korean-made satellites are also scheduled to be launched in the future. However, when it comes to disclosing and utilizing the information acquired through satellites to the private sector, fostering an industrial ecosystem, and providing useful services to the public, it remains at a 'beginner' level due to various regulatory barriers. There are calls for various measures, including deregulation, to prevent satellite information acquired at the cost of trillions of won from going to waste.

◇ South Korea Leaps Toward Becoming a Satellite Power

The South Korean government launched 11 medium-to-large satellites, excluding small satellites, by 2020. With increasing investments, it plans to launch about 170 additional satellites by 2030. From 2022 to 2031, a total of approximately 170 public-purpose satellites will be developed. By type, these include 93 ultra-small cluster satellites, 11 next-generation medium satellites, 6 multipurpose practical satellites, and 4 geostationary satellites. Private companies such as Hancom Group and Hanwha Group are also entering the field. This number is relatively large among major countries worldwide, and experts evaluate that South Korea is making a full-fledged leap to become a 'satellite powerhouse.' Naturally, the amount of satellite information collected by South Korea is increasing exponentially. Currently, South Korea collects satellite information in six fields?land geography, agriculture, forestry, ocean, water resources, and weather?through multipurpose practical satellites, Cheollian satellites, and next-generation medium satellites.

The uses of satellite information are diverse. Major space powers worldwide utilize satellite information to respond to security demands such as disaster response and strategic intelligence acquisition, while also applying it to △weather forecasting △environmental monitoring △ocean and water resource monitoring △harvest prediction and vegetation information for agriculture and forestry monitoring △land management and map production △high-precision navigation information. It is also useful in everyday life for citizens. Location-based services such as regional weather, fine dust alerts and warnings, infectious disease spread monitoring and healthcare services, traffic, maps, 3D living geography information, and optimal ship route provision all rely on satellites. Recently, services using satellite information have been actively developed in areas such as international oil price prediction, regional economic growth rate analysis, insurance and other financial services, map-based geography and history education, virtual reality (VR) games, map-based promotion, tourism, and leisure and education services.

◇ ‘1980s-style’ South Korea vs. ‘Fully Open’ Advanced Countries

In early March, the Ukrainian government requested SI Imaging Services, a South Korean satellite information company, to provide all-weather observation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite information capable of nighttime imaging. At that time, some private satellite information companies in the U.S. and other countries were actively providing various information to Ukraine, but this company effectively declined, saying, "There is no information available to provide now." The reason given was that the South Korean government had increased satellite usage time but there was no time to capture images of the Ukraine area. However, experts evaluate this as evidence that South Korea is a 'beginner' in satellite information collection and utilization. It symbolically shows that the industrial ecosystem for private companies' satellite information utilization is so underdeveloped and that there is little room for service provision. The primary cause of this situation is regulations justified by security and safety concerns. South Korea strictly limits the disclosure of satellite information collected by public satellites under the Space Development Promotion Act and the Framework Act on National Spatial Information. Three-dimensional satellite data exposing national security facilities and military facilities, which are restricted to the public, are all classified. Precise calibrated two-dimensional coordinates with a resolution below 30 meters, images exposing security or military facilities restricted to the public with a resolution below 4 meters, and precise data with 3D coordinates with a resolution below 90 meters are also restricted from disclosure. The information that can be disclosed is limited to areas outside these. Even for ultra-high-resolution satellite images with a resolution below 25 cm, content and personal information must be recorded when providing or selling. Although some provisions of the strict Framework Act on National Spatial Information were partially relaxed in March last year and implemented from March this year, only a clause allowing 'security review' upon company request was added, so regulatory barriers remain. South Korea's representative portal map service, Naver Map, does not show military facilities near the Yongsan U.S. military base or the Blue House. More than 30% of South Korea's territory is tied up in such security regulations, preventing the private sector from accessing satellite information.

Major space powers such as the U.S. initially had strict security regulations but have gradually relaxed policies to provide information needed by the market. Until the 1990s, the U.S. enforced strong satellite image data regulations, restricting satellite image data of the Israel-Palestine conflict region to a resolution of 2 meters or higher for sale. It also lowered resolution or banned transactions for certain regions in overseas exports. However, with the rapid increase of private satellites in the 2000s, the U.S. weakened the security standards for satellite data to a resolution of 0.4 meters in 2020. It also shifted to a market-oriented licensing system aimed at revitalizing the private satellite service ecosystem. NASA implements a fully open policy for all images, metadata, documents, research results, and analysis source codes collected through the Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS). Germany enacted the Satellite Data Security Act in 2007, distributing 90% of satellite information directly after sensitivity investigations and security procedures, managing only the remaining 10%, with only 1% prohibited from distribution.

A representative of a private satellite information company said, "Although security regulations are strict in Europe and the U.S., they are gradually moving toward openness to secure the competitiveness of private industries and reflect international circumstances," adding, "Only South Korea still has strict security regulations and remains stuck in 2000s-style spatial resolution-based regulations." Even the data partially disclosed is limited to the level of public services related to satellite information commissioned or delegated by government agencies, so proper private utilization is not realized.

According to a recent report by the National Research Foundation on revitalizing the satellite information industry ecosystem, the service level evaluation of five major satellite information providers in South Korea is very low. The National Satellite Information Utilization Support Center of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the National Environmental Satellite Center of the National Institute of Environmental Research were rated at service level 0 out of 5 levels, meaning they barely pretend to provide services. The Korea Meteorological Administration's National Meteorological Satellite Center, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology's Ocean Satellite Center, the National Oceanographic Survey's National Ocean Satellite Center, and the Korea Polar Research Institute affiliated with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology were rated service level 1, slightly better but still at a 'beginner' level.

◇ Satellite Image Data Market ‘Booming’

Globally, the private service market utilizing the latest technology and satellite information is growing exponentially. Cases of providing high-level satellite information services corresponding to the 'advanced utilization stage,' or service level 5, are steadily increasing. A representative domestic example is Rainbowbird Geo's disaster response and management system, the 'RGB Service.' It integrates multiple satellite information obtained from Cheollian Satellite 2A and overseas satellites with geographic information systems (GIS), administrative networks, and other supplementary information to provide disaster prediction and alert services, receiving favorable reviews. The application provides heavy rain prevention two hours in advance, immediate alerts for disasters such as floods, droughts, and wildfires based on location, disaster reporting and sharing among users, and regional weather information reception services. Pachama, founded by engineers from Argentina, has received praise for proposing a business model linking satellite information services with carbon trading systems. Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, it provides forest monitoring across North and South America, calculates corporate carbon-related costs, and offers carbon tax trading services, attracting investment and consulting from major investment banks (IBs).

Orbital Insight, a startup founded in 2013 by former NASA personnel, has attracted attention by providing geographic information and satellite image analysis solutions. Through an AI-powered satellite image interpretation platform, it offers information for energy, real estate, defense, retail, and finance sectors, especially selling solutions that can predict trends in oil and futures markets, gaining tremendous popularity. Traditional satellite information companies such as Maxar Technologies, Planet Labs, and ExactEarth, which provide total solutions including satellite development, launch, and ground stations, have also recently gained prominence in the New Space era.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◇ "Need to Build an Open Satellite Information Platform"

To overcome South Korea's 'beginner' status in satellite information utilization, it is pointed out that institutional improvements and system construction are needed to provide integrated independent satellite information based on strong public-private cooperation, like NASA or the European Space Agency (ESA). Through this, an open platform should be established to diversify and specify the standards for satellite information that can be disclosed to the private sector and companies concerning security and safety, thereby relaxing related regulations. Based on this, a high-technology level and advanced services should be provided, and an environment enabling fusion services such as integration of heterogeneous satellites should be created. It is also essential to foster an ecosystem that satisfies public demands while strengthening the competitiveness of private enterprises. It is not just about providing raw satellite images but also about offering preprocessed data, analysis, visualization functions, introducing global cloud environments, and actively utilizing advanced technologies such as AI.

Professor Heo Hwan-il of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Chungnam National University said, "Currently, South Korea's satellite information industry ecosystem is at an infant stage where it barely survives only because the 'mother' (government) feeds it," adding, "With hundreds of satellites scheduled to be launched and South Korea becoming a satellite power, efforts such as deregulation and promotion policies through public-private cooperation are necessary for diverse private utilization of collected information, job creation, and industrial revitalization."