[Stock in Focus] LK Samyang's AI Star Tracker Launched on Falcon 9... The Eyes of the New Space Exploration Era

LK Samyang is showing strong performance. This is interpreted as a result of growing interest in aerospace-related companies following news that SpaceX will conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year. Based on the successful demonstration test of its next-generation star tracker for deep space navigation, LK Samyang not only aims to expand sales to global satellite manufacturers but also plans to broaden its business into module production, including detector sensors.

As of 10:10 a.m. on December 19, LK Samyang was trading at 1,378 won, up 163 won (13.42%) from the previous trading day.

Jung Euhoon, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, stated, "If SpaceX goes public in the second half of next year, its corporate value could be assessed at around 1 trillion to as much as 1.5 trillion dollars," adding, "It plans to raise about 30 billion dollars through the IPO."

SpaceX's business segments are divided into rocket launch services, the low-earth orbit satellite communication service Starlink, and government projects. In rocket launches, its main reusable launch vehicle, 'Falcon 9,' recorded 132 launches last year and 165 launches this year.

Previously, in 2023, LK Samyang collaborated with satellite specialist Telepix to develop a lens for vision detectors used in small satellites. In 2024, the two companies agreed to jointly develop a next-generation star tracker for deep space navigation, with LK Samyang responsible for developing and manufacturing the lens component. The next-generation star tracker, which combines an ultra-high-resolution camera with a high-performance image processing algorithm, was successfully launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in June.

On October 30, LK Samyang announced that it had successfully completed the initial demonstration test of the next-generation AI star tracker (Star Tracker) for deep space navigation, which was jointly developed with Telepix.

This marks the first achievement of applying LK Samyang's long-accumulated optical technology to the aerospace sector, and is significant as it lays the foundation for entering the deep space exploration market in the future.

The next-generation AI star tracker for deep space navigation is a core system that enables satellites to perform navigation missions autonomously in deep space environments where support from ground stations is limited. When the ultra-compact wide-field camera developed by LK Samyang observes the relative positions of celestial bodies such as stars and planets, Telepix's high-performance image processing algorithm analyzes this data to calculate the satellite's precise position and orbit.

Telepix, which leads the project, has confirmed the normal operation of the star tracker since its launch in June and has completed data acquisition for estimating satellite attitude and velocity. By confirming that the satellite's attitude direction (right ascension and declination) and rotation speed, obtained by analyzing images taken by the star tracker, match the GPS information, the core functions have been verified to be operating normally.

Through the successful test, LK Samyang's optical lens manufacturing technology for use in space environments has been validated. This has provided an opportunity to expand its business beyond existing areas into the aerospace sector.

LK Samyang and Telepix plan to further demonstrate and advance the next-generation AI star tracker for deep space navigation by applying it to actual deep space navigation satellites, and will pursue full-scale mass production and commercialization. As missions utilizing low-cost small satellites are emerging as a global trend in space exploration, demand for next-generation AI star trackers to be installed on small satellites is also expected to increase.

In addition, the image-based navigation technology developed by Telepix can be widely used for various missions in space, such as precise tracking and observation of space objects beyond deep space navigation, and is expected to further expand the application range of LK Samyang's optical solutions.