KAI Enters Satellite Image Market...Invests in Video Analysis Company 'Meisa'

Acquisition of 20% Stake Contract
Real-time Measurement of Progress Rate and Cargo Volume

(Left) Hanchangheon, Head of Future Business Division at Korea Aerospace Industries, and (Right) Shin Seungsoo, CEO of Meisa, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the equity acquisition contract.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is embarking on building a 'New Space Value Chain' to enter the 300 trillion won space services market.

On the 7th, KAI announced that it has signed a contract to acquire a 20% stake in 'Meisa,' a domestic aerospace image analysis specialist company. Meisa is a promising small and medium enterprise that developed the country's first '3D Reconstruction Engine' which converts 2D captured images into 3D.

KAI explained that since launching the New Space Task Force (TF) in February, it has been reviewing entry into the satellite image service sector and decided to collaborate with Meisa, a leader in domestic image analysis technology. The plan is to transform satellite image services, which currently remain at a one-dimensional sales level, into high value-added space service businesses by integrating 4th industrial revolution technologies such as 3D Reconstruction, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data.

The space industry is expected to rapidly grow from about 500 trillion won in 2020 to 1,200 trillion won by 2040, with the space services sector including satellite imagery and launch services analyzed to be worth over 300 trillion won.

3D Reconstruction technology is a core technology possessed by global satellite image service companies such as Airbus, Google, and Microsoft, and is gaining attention as an analytical tool in various industries including shipping, agriculture, and forestry.

This technology is currently used mainly with drone footage for real-time progress measurement in domestic construction, and error analysis with construction drawings. Applying this to satellites is expected to expand service areas to various industries such as cargo volume based on ship movements at ports, forest resources and pest information, crop yield, and petroleum storage analysis.

Going forward, KAI plans to strengthen its system integration capabilities in space manufacturing and concretize the value chain in operations and services through cooperation with domestic and international companies, aiming to become a global key player in the New Space era.

A KAI official stated, “This equity acquisition will be a cornerstone for KAI to advance beyond aerospace manufacturing into the service sector,” adding, “We will enhance technology to strengthen synergy with existing businesses, including satellite image analysis and metaverse-based simulator development.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.