LIG Nex1, KAIST team up for artificial satellite research

South Korean military and defense company LIG Nex1 Co. has joined hands with Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to deepen their collaboration in developing artificial satellites.

The two parties on Wednesday signed an agreement for joint research and development in artificial satellites, with an aim to share technologies in the design and manufacturing of satellites and to strengthen partnerships through staff exchanges. They also agreed to share R&D equipment and facilities and find ways to commercialize satellite opportunities.

LIG Nex1 is a local military and defense company whose business sectors include precision guided munitions, surveillance and reconnaissance, avionics and electronic warfare. It has been working closely with KAIST to commercialize critical military technologies such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and communication satellites. Together, they are advancing core technologies for next-generation ultra-small satellite constellations and SAR satellites. LIG Nex1 is also poised to venture into low-Earth orbit small satellites running on ultra-fast 5G and 6G networks.

KAIST’s Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) is the country’s premier institution for satellite development. It launched Korea’s first satellite, KITSAT-1, in 1992 and used proprietary technologies to build two small satellites that were successfully brought to commercialization.

It is conducting preliminary research to build a space internet network based on 5G, ISL and 6G to cover regions currently unsupported by ground networks and to commercialize hyper-fast communication satellites.

On Monday, the research university also signed a business partnership agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer, to develop and commercialize small satellites to advance the country’s satellite capacity.

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