■ Necessity of research
● Starting from the 2nd Space Development Promotion Basic Plan (jointly with related ministries, 2011) and the establishment of a standard platform for next-generation medium-sized satellites, government policy has changed from focusing on independent technology in satellite development to focusing on satellite utilization.
● According to Euro Consult (2021), the size of the satellite information utilization market is expected to grow from $4 billion to $7 billion in 2020.
● According to the space industry survey, service and equipment utilizing satellite information account for 72% of total space sales, leading the space industry in Korea.
● However, remote sensing utilization technology and achievements are significantly lower than other satellite information utilization fields (satellite broadcasting and communication, satellite navigation), and the heterogeneous service convergence and value-added service convergence fields that can create high added value centered on simple processing and processing of images are not yet available. doesn't exist
● In order to respond to changes in the era of possession and utilization of multiple satellites due to participation in the development and utilization of satellites by various government departments, to check the current government policy on the use of satellite information and the level of Korea's basic technology, and to find policy issues need research
※ 2022.06 Earth observation satellite currently in operation: 7, Arirang 2, 3, 5, 3A, Chollian 2A (weather), 2B (environmental/marine), next-generation medium-sized satellite 1 (land)
※ Planned earth observation satellites: Next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 2 (land, second half of 2022), No. 4 (agriculture/forestry, scheduled for 2023), No. 5 (water resources, scheduled for 2025), 11 micro-satellites (2024-2027)
■ Research goals and methods
● Deriving policy issues needed in the age of multiple earth observation satellites by reviewing the current status of laws, policies, plans, and implementations related to the use of national satellite information, as well as the level of domestic technology and expert opinions
● Method
- Analysis of national satellite information utilization related laws, space development plans and implementation plans to analyze policy status and utilization status,
- Estimating the level of domestic research base in the field of remote sensing through bibliographic analysis,
- Individual in-depth interviews with experts to overcome the limitations of simple bibliographic analysis
● (Scope and limitations of the study) The use of satellite information in this report is limited to the field of remote sensing, and policy issues that can lead to research on convergence of heterogeneous services and convergence of value-added services by activating ‘research’
■ Government policy and utilization status
● Government policy changes from securing independent technology for satellite development to focusing on satellite information utilization
● Various government departments/organizations recognize the importance of using satellite information to improve the quality of life of the people, and use satellite information centered on pending issues (solving social problems) of the relevant institution.
- Major application topics include North Korea and inaccessible areas, land cover map, smart farm, disaster/safety, agricultural statistics/arable survey
- Experts suggest disaster/disaster as the field with the highest utilization in Korea
● Several government departments establish their own artificial satellite (utilization) centers and actively open satellite information to the public as a major national public service.
● There has been great quantitative growth thanks to the efforts of various government agencies and researchers, but the field of heterogeneous service convergence and value-added service convergence for the creation of high added value is weak.
● Government policy pursues both ‘professionalism’ through independent operation of satellite information by satellite operating organizations and ‘convenience’ in utilizing satellite information through the establishment of an integrated system*
* Satellite Utilization Council, National Satellite Information Utilization Support Center, National Satellite Integrated Operation Center
● Although the comparison of the quality of papers in Korea using bibliographic analysis reveals that the quality of papers is relatively high, it is judged that there are experts in all fields of remote sensing.
● Expert opinion gathered that the beginning of solving all problems is to increase the utilization of ‘national’ earth observation satellite data.
- The use of remote sensing data and papers (citations) are based on the observation data of the country's territory and the current issues of the country concerned, so the increase in the use of national satellites is key to the quantitative and qualitative growth of research papers.
- Lack of access to national satellite data leads to lack of basic data for research activities, low research level, low utilization, shrinking investment sentiment for new satellite development, insufficient number of jobs, and difficulties in nurturing human resources. Absence, difficulties in creating a related industry ecosystem, and difficulties in entering overseas markets