“If you look at the satellites on the screen now, they are following each other's tails, right? This is the incident mentioned by the U.S. Space Force in March this year, where Chinese satellites were reportedly practicing 'dogfighting'. It is a kind of space 'Google Maps' or 'YouTube' site where you can immediately see the positions or movements of satellites in space.”

On the 24th, Kim Deok-soo, CEO of Spacemap (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University), introduced the newly launched service 'Spacetube' at the Spacemap office located on the Hanyang University campus in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Spacetube is a term combining 'space' and 'YouTube', allowing users to view important satellite movements, such as the Chinese satellite dogfighting, as if watching YouTube. By clicking on satellite information on the site, users can check the real-time movements of multiple space objects and analyze collision risks.



Dogfighting unfolds in a form where a fighter jet moves to get behind the tail of an opponent's fighter jet for attack. In March this year, U.S. Space Force Vice Commander Michael Gatlin stated that a hostile nation to the U.S. conducted a 'satellite dogfight' using five satellites in low Earth orbit last year. The hostile nation mentioned by General Gatlin is China, and the satellites involved in the dogfight are the Shiyan satellites (3 units) and Shijian satellites (2 units), as seen on the Spacetube site.

Kim stated, “Users can upload content directly based on the satellite data we possess. The data accumulated through this becomes our asset,” adding, “We have also developed the '42 Talk' service, which connects real-time satellite data used in Spacetube with Zoom.” 42 Talk is a platform where space officials from various countries, including the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, can conduct video conferences while observing satellite movements. Kim explained, “It will become a new business model for Spacemap.”

Currently, the main revenue of Spacemap comes from the U.S. Space Force's 'SDA TAP LAB' space domain awareness project. SDA TAP LAB is an R&D initiative established to enhance the space object recognition capabilities of the U.S. Space Force in an increasingly complex space environment. Spacemap is the first company from an Asian country to participate in this project.

It is estimated that there are over 50,000 space objects larger than 10 cm, 1.2 million between 1 cm and 10 cm, and more than 140 million between 1 mm and 1 cm currently floating in space. Recently, with the growth of the satellite communication industry led by SpaceX's 'Starlink', the number of space objects is increasing exponentially. Kim stated, “As the number of satellites and space debris increases, technology to identify the position and movement of space objects in real-time is becoming important.”

In fact, according to a report submitted by SpaceX to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year, Starlink satellites performed over 50,000 avoidance maneuvers to avoid space objects from December 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. Kim stated, “Real-time object recognition technology is necessary for quick response,” adding, “The greatest strength of Spacemap's space object recognition technology lies in its 'speed'.”

Spacemap's ability to recognize space objects faster than any other technology is hidden in mathematical principles. Kim is an engineer who has long studied the 'Voronoi diagram'. A Voronoi diagram divides a plane into regions based on the closest distance to a specific point.

Consider a specific point as a satellite. Calculating the movements of satellites with collision risks requires a lot of time. Thus, efficiently selecting satellites with collision risks is the 'royal road' to saving time. The Voronoi diagram is a mathematical principle that fits perfectly here. It only requires calculating the movements of satellites in adjacent regions divided by the Voronoi diagram.



Spacemap's space object recognition system calculates the distance between satellites based on satellite data released by the U.S. Space Command's Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC). Kim stated, “To apply this principle to satellites, the Voronoi diagram must be expanded to three dimensions. In the case of satellites, they move in curves, and their speed changes from time to time, making the equations extremely complex,” adding, “Spacemap is the only one capable of accurately calculating and applying this to space object recognition.”

Based on these strengths, Spacemap is currently participating in Amazon's 'Project Kuiper'. Project Kuiper is a satellite communication service being prepared by Amazon to compete with Starlink. They also plan to propose a business to Starlink.

As the U.S. business grows, a subsidiary called 'Spacemap US' has been established in the Denver area of Colorado. Kim stated, “It is an essential step to receive significant funding from the U.S. government,” adding, “We are in the process of local hiring.”

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