Hancom InSpace CEO Choi Myungjin (PRNewsfoto/Hancom Group)

Hancom InSpace will launch Korea’s first private satellite for Earth observation in the first half of 2022, the company announced September 29.

Once launched, the satellite, Sejong-1, would make Hancom the world’s first company to achieve a three-tiered remote sensing image data service belt – linking satellites, aerial drones, and sensors on the ground. Hancom will use this system to provide sensing data to agricultural sector. The launch will make Hancom the first non-governmental entity in South Korea to put into space a satellite weighing less than 100 kg.

The company is collaborating with U.S. satellite data company Spire Global on the launch.

“As the global space industry is entering a private-led ‘new-space’ era, we will lead the Korean space industry,” says Choi Myungjin, CEO of Hancom InSpace. “The global image data service market is expected to grow significantly from KRW81 trillion this year to KRW100 trillion in 2024, and Hancom Group will continue to push for bold differentiation strategies and investments to gain an edge in the electro-optical/infrared image data service market.”

Hancom said it also plans to expand into other data usage capacities, such as forest resource management, disaster management, and detection of urban changes.