[For more diverse corporate information on the startups mentioned in this article, you can view them on Unicorn Factory's big data platform 'Data Lab'.]
On the 3rd, space AI comprehensive solution company Telefix announced that it successfully demonstrated its self-developed 'AI-based satellite image geometric correction and positioning model' aboard the ultra-small satellite Bluebon in actual orbit.
This confirmed that onboard AI mounted on the satellite can autonomously search for the actual ground location of images immediately after shooting and align them with map coordinates without assistance from ground stations.
Telefix explained, "This is the world's first instance of automatically performing such geometric correction processes in a satellite's onboard AI environment and verifying them in orbit."
Geometric correction is a critical preprocessing step that corrects location and shape distortions contained in satellite images to align them with actual map coordinate systems. Previously, this required large-scale ground-based computing infrastructure and specialized operational personnel.
Telefix implemented the process to be performed directly inside the satellite using an onboard AI computer weighing 500g or less, shortening the existing structure of 'satellite shooting → ground transmission → ground station processing → expert verification → utilization' to 'satellite shooting → onboard AI processing → result utilization.' The company expects high utility in missions where speed is crucial, such as disaster and emergency response, national defense and security, and forest fire detection.
Unlike existing onboard positioning methods that require large-scale terrain databases (DBs) such as road networks and coastlines to be mounted before satellite launch, thereby limiting the scope of regions and data, Telefix adopted a method that searches for locations using ultra-low-volume reference materials. By combining this with in-orbit wireless software update technology, the company enables updates to AI models and reference materials even after launch, allowing flexible responses to changes in operational areas and missions.
This demonstration was conducted using Bluebon, South Korea's only 15kg-class AI satellite, and Tetraflex, a GPU-based onboard AI computer mounted on satellites.
In the first demonstration on the 21st last year, which captured an area around Apple Park in California, USA, all 12 segments successfully matched with reference images. In the second demonstration on the 24th of the same month, which captured the Hortobagy region in Hungary, all 36 segments were successfully matched, confirming stability even in expanded matching zones. The measured position residuals in both demonstrations were 11.4m and 9.7m respectively, evaluated as achieving commercial satellite-level accuracy based on a 4.8m spatial resolution standard.
Notably, in the second demonstration, the company succeeded in accurately locating the actual shooting position even when it deviated by approximately 21.9km from the originally planned coordinates. This result demonstrated the possibility that onboard AI can autonomously correct positions even with significant discrepancies between planned and actual locations, thanks to a pre-designed wide-area search covering a 36km range.
Starting with this geometric correction demonstration, Telefix plans to expand its technical scope to include object detection, change detection, image analysis, and future automatic analysis report generation using Vision-Language Models (VLM) performed entirely within the satellite. The VLM model has completed development and ground testing and is preparing for in-orbit trials in 2027.
Kwon Da-rong, Telefix's Chief Data Scientist (CDS), stated, "This is significant as it confirms in actual orbit the possibility that satellites can directly understand images and determine shooting locations, advancing one step beyond the existing method where humans processed data after satellites transmitted it to Earth." He added, "We will accelerate the commercialization of onboard AI technology."
Telefix is a space AI comprehensive solution company that develops everything from satellite camera systems to onboard AI and satellite image analysis and utilization solutions. It has been operating Bluebon, launched in January 2025, and is verifying various onboard AI technologies in orbit. The company also participates as a member of the 'K-Space Forum' operated by MoneyToday's Unicorn Factory.
[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]
in FUTURE
