Setrec-i, Hanwha Satellite Maker, Partners with Naver for 'Satellite Imagery Platform' Agreement

Space Industry, Government to Private
'New Space' Era

Contracts with Major Platform Companies
"Enhancing Satellite Service Quality"

Hanwha Aerospace, which oversees Hanwha Group's aerospace business and holds a 20% stake in satellite company Satrec Initiative, signed a satellite service agreement with Naver Cloud. From the left, Dohyung Kim, Head of Business Development at Satrec Initiative; Sangyoung Han, Executive Director of Strategy & Planning at Naver Cloud; and Pone Lee, Head of Business Development at SIA. (Photo by Satrec Initiative)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Setrec Eye, a core company in Hanwha Group's aerospace business that manufactures satellites, is accelerating its business by signing a cloud satellite service agreement with Naver (NAVER). Setrec Eye is a company in which Hanwha Aerospace, the holding company in charge of Hanwha's space and aviation business, holds a 20% stake. It is also the only domestic company that develops and exports satellite systems.

Setrec Eye announced on the 27th that it had signed a business agreement with Naver Cloud in the field of cloud-based satellite services. Its subsidiaries, SIIS and SIA, are also participating in the business. After the agreement, Setrec Eye will receive Naver's cloud platform. It is expected that the level of large-capacity satellite image processing technology of Setrec Eye's products will improve. As the aerospace sector enters the 'New Space era,' where it is driven by the private sector rather than the state, the satellite service field is gaining attention, and this contract with a major platform company was secured.

Setrec Eye explained that by signing an agreement with the platform company before the planned launch of its satellite SpaceEye-T in 2024, the satellite image service business will gain momentum. It anticipated that the global earth observation solution business, which integrates the image sales service of its subsidiary SIIS and the artificial intelligence (AI) geographic information analysis service of SIA, will accelerate.

Through the agreement, SIA will also have the opportunity to supply 'Obvision,' its self-developed satellite and aerial image data analysis platform, to government and public institutions, Setrec Eye said. It will be provided to government, public enterprises, and private companies in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS) on the Naver Cloud platform. This means that Setrec Eye's sales channels have expanded accordingly. In the mid to long term, by combining Naver's AI, search, and 3D map technologies with satellite images, AI solutions can be advanced. Through this, services for private businesses as well as global customers will be activated.

Kim Ieul, CEO of Setrec Eye, said, "We will strengthen the satellite image earth observation business by collaborating with Naver Cloud," adding, "We will secure more diverse data and expand utilization services to provide valuable information to domestic and international customers, contributing to the industrialization of Korea's space industry." Han Sangyoung, Executive Director of Strategy & Planning at Naver Cloud, said, "It is meaningful to be able to promote growth in the space satellite service sector together with Setrec Eye," and added, "We will actively utilize Naver's stable infrastructure and various technologies to continue innovation so that cloud technology accelerates the 'space economy.'"

Setrec Eye was established in 1999 by key personnel who developed Korea's first artificial satellite, Uri Byul 1. It has participated in more than 30 domestic and international projects so far, and last year received equity investment from Hanwha Aerospace to jointly establish a space development strategy.