Amid this trend, a domestic Earth observation satellite imagery company is drawing attention by signing an additional supply contract worth tens of millions of dollars with an overseas institution, thereby demonstrating the commercial potential of Korea’s space industry.
The company in question is SIIS, a firm specializing in the commercial supply of Earth observation satellite imagery. Founded in 2014, the company signed its first supply contract with a European client last September and recently secured an additional contract, thereby gaining recognition for its capability to supply high-resolution satellite imagery and the competitiveness of its satellite-leasing-based service model.
Kim Moon-kyu, CEO of SIIS, said, “Building trust with overseas customers through the global sale of Arirang satellite imagery owned by the government has led to this achievement,” adding, “We are now entering a new phase of growth by expanding our business scope to include services utilizing our own satellites.”
◇Pioneering the Satellite Leasing Service Market
A turning point for the company was the launch of “SpaceEye-T,” a commercial optical satellite developed by its parent company, Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd., using its own technology and capital. Since its launch in March of last year, the satellite has been operating stably and provides 25-cm-class ultra-high-resolution imagery. Its value is recognized across various fields, including national security, cartography, critical infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response. With a resolution where a single object on the ground measuring 25 cm by 25 cm is represented as one pixel, it is capable of identifying the type and direction of a vehicle from a distance of approximately 500 km in space.
SII’s core export model is “Satellite as a Service.” This is an example of bringing the subscription economy—similar to Airbnb—to space. Customers can secure the right to operate a satellite for a set period and acquire imagery of the regions they need without having to pay the satellite development and launch costs, which range from hundreds of won to hundreds of billions of won.
This model leverages the orbital characteristics of satellites. While a specific satellite spends only tens of minutes a day passing over the Korean Peninsula, it spends the rest of its time flying over regions worldwide, including Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. SIIS leases usage rights for the time slots when the satellite passes over specific countries or regions requested by overseas customers.
Traditional foreign companies have focused on “Tasking as a Service,” in which the company handles everything from imaging to data processing based on customer requests and then delivers the results. However, SIIS has gone a step further by allowing customers to directly receive and process the desired imagery using their own ground antennas and utilize the image data. This effectively allows customers to use the satellite as if it were their own dedicated asset during the leased period.
According to a report released last year by NovaSpace, the Earth observation data and value-added services market is expected to exceed approximately $8.4 billion (about 13 trillion Hanwha KRW) by 2034, with more than 65% of the total market coming from the defense and security sectors. Although the market size for satellite leasing and similar services has not been surveyed, demand is gradually increasing in line with the international political landscape.
CEO Kim Moon-kyu explained, “From the customer’s perspective, they can carry out the tasks they want without security concerns,” adding, “The relative increase in the importance of observation satellites—including due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.-Iran conflict—has also helped boost exports.”
◇Expansion of Service Models
CEO Kim noted that as the paradigm of space development shifts from government-led to private-sector-led, ultra-small satellite constellations—such as SpaceX’s “Starlink”—are gaining attention. However, he assessed that ultra-small satellites and medium-to-large satellites are not in competition but rather in a complementary relationship.
He explained, “For optical Earth observation satellites, camera size is a key factor determining image quality,” adding, “To secure high-resolution imagery, it is necessary to utilize medium- and large-sized satellites equipped with larger cameras or to operate them in low Earth orbit; therefore, the role of medium- and large-sized satellites will remain important in the future.”
Based on its proven track record in commercializing Arirang satellite imagery—one of its core strengths—SIIS plans to continuously strengthen its image quality management capabilities. The company is minimizing data errors and enhancing reliability by establishing automated image processing workflows and a dedicated quality verification system.
Furthermore, the company’s strategy is to provide integrated services spanning from satellite development to data analysis by leveraging a value chain that connects Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd.’s satellite manufacturing technology, iA, Inc.’s image supply, and SIA’s data analysis capabilities.
The company is also finalizing its growth strategy. The goal is to expand the proportion of high-value-added data services beyond the simple sale of satellite imagery. Currently, the company is expanding sales of imagery from SpaceIT-1, and expects to secure additional supply contracts once the follow-up satellite, “SpaceIT-2,” is launched in 2028. Furthermore, the company forecasts that once the development of 10-cm-class ultra-high-resolution satellites becomes a reality in the early 2030s, it will be able to compete head-to-head with global leaders in the service market.
CEO Kim explained, “To be honest, it seems we were fortunate to have the war as a factor in this export process,” adding, “Demand for satellite leasing services is so high that even though we’ve only announced the launch of SpaceIT-2, there are customers eager to sign contracts in advance, so we plan to explore additional export opportunities.”
He continued, “Once we are able to commercialize 10-cm-class imagery in the future, we will be able to compete with industry leaders such as Vantor in the U.S. and Airbus in Europe, which hold the highest market shares globally,” adding, “We will demonstrate the competitiveness of Korean companies in the global market.”
◇CEO Kim Moon-kyu
△ B.S. from KAIST (double major in Physics and Computer Science) △ M.S. in Electronics from University College London △ Researcher at the KAIST Satellite Research Center △ Project Manager at Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd. △ Head of the Imaging Business Division at Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd. △ Current CEO of SY CO., LTD. △ Presidential Commendation △ Government Award for Distinguished Service in the Promotion of Science and Technology—Deputy Prime Minister’s Commendation
