[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyun-ah ] Nota Inc., a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) optimization, is expanding the scope of its AI technology applications from Earth to space by participating in the development of a space pharmaceutical manufacturing platform. This marks the first instance of extending on-device AI technology—which has been validated in various devices such as smartphones, automobiles, and robots—to the extreme environment of space.

#On the 25th, Nota Inc. announced that it will participate in the “Deep Tech Challenge Project (DCP) Ecosystem Innovation” initiative, led by Space Rintec, a company specializing in space pharmaceuticals, and will be responsible for developing on-device AI optimization technology. This project, supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Technology Information Promotion Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (TIPA), will be carried out over four years with a budget of up to 20 billion won.

Founded in 2015 by researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Nota Inc. is a leading company in the field of AI model lightweighting and optimization. Based on its proprietary AI optimization platform, “NetsPresso,” the company lightens large-scale AI models without compromising performance, enabling them to run smoothly on a variety of DEVICES, including smartphones, in-vehicle infotainment systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), and industrial equipment.

In particular, through collaborations with global semiconductor and platform companies such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Arm, and SamsungElectronics, Nota Inc. has been recognized for its technological capabilities in maximizing AI performance across diverse chipset environments. The industry regards Nota Inc. as a “software optimization infrastructure company” for the AI era.

Space Lintech, the lead organization for this project, is the first company in South Korea to successfully demonstrate a space medicine research module based on the International Space Station (ISS). Building on its experience in developing space biosatellites and conducting research in the space environment, the company is working to establish a space medicine manufacturing platform.

With growing interest in the commercial space industry, bio- and pharmaceutical research utilizing the space environment is emerging as a new growth area. In particular, space-based pharmaceuticals are gaining attention as a next-generation space biotechnology industry capable of enhancing the efficiency of protein structure research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes by leveraging the microgravity environment.

The goal of this project is to verify the feasibility of structural research and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals in the microgravity environments of the International Space Station (ISS) and low Earth orbit, and to develop a pharmaceutical manufacturing platform capable of autonomously performing the entire experimental process. In the future, the company plans to expand its scope of application to private space stations after completing a demonstration phase involving the retrieval and analysis of samples produced in space.

In this project, Nota Inc. is developing on-device AI technology that enables space experiment equipment to analyze data and assess experimental conditions directly on-site. The company plans to optimize the AI model to not only recognize experimental conditions in real time and detect anomalies based on video and sensor data but also summarize experimental results in natural language and report them to the ground control system.

Due to communication latency and limited power and computational resources in the space environment, it is difficult to transmit all data to Earth for processing. Consequently, local AI—which analyzes data and makes decisions within the equipment itself—is essential. Nota Inc.’s lightweight technology, capable of running AI stably even in constrained hardware environments, is expected to serve as the core foundation for the autonomous space experiment platform.

Chae Myeong-su, CEO of Nota Inc., stated, “Space is a prime example of an extreme edge environment where AI must operate directly on-site due to limited communication, power, and computational resources.” He added, “This project will serve as an important milestone in extending the AI lightweighting and optimization technologies Nota Inc. has accumulated to the space industry.” He further stated, “Under our ‘AI Everywhere’ vision, we will continue to strengthen our competitiveness in next-generation edge AI as required by the space sector.”