The Korea Aerospace Administration said on Monday it will release for free about 67,000 high-resolution standard images taken by multipurpose practical satellites to support AI technology development by domestic satellite-application companies.

The Korea Aerospace Administration will begin a pilot release to domestic companies from Sept. 30 of high-resolution standard images taken by Arirang 3 and Arirang 3A. Standard images refer to satellite imagery that has undergone standard processing, such as geometric and radiometric correction, and can be used immediately without additional processing.

The release is intended to help satellite-application companies secure large-scale image data needed to develop AI models. In a survey the Korea Aerospace Administration conducted in February of satellite-application companies, 7 companies requested that national satellite standard images be released for free for AI model development.

After that, the Korea Aerospace Administration prepared a release plan through corporate briefings and consultations with related institutions. It reflected the release of satellite imagery as a key task in the "Republic of Korea Space and Aerospace Industry Promotion Strategy" announced in July.

The images to be released are optical images taken last year of overseas regions by Arirang 3 and Arirang 3A. Arirang 3 has a resolution of 0.7 metres, and Arirang 3A has a resolution of 0.55 metres. The Korea Aerospace Administration selected about 67,000 images with less than 25 percent cloud cover.

Developing AI models using satellite imagery requires a large volume of images for training, analysis and verification. The Korea Aerospace Administration said domestic companies have had difficulty securing sufficient high-resolution satellite imagery.

Domestic companies can use the released images to develop satellite-application technologies and services, including AI models. They can also commercialise AI models and services trained using the images. However, selling or redistributing the released images themselves is prohibited. Companies that need standard images should submit a "National Satellite Standard Imagery Request Form" to the Korea Aerospace Administration.

The Korea Aerospace Administration plans to release more than 60,000 national satellite standard images every year. It will expand the cumulative release 규모 to 300,000 images by 2030 and more than 600,000 images by 2035.

Oh Tae-seok (오태석), head of the Korea Aerospace Administration, said, "We will boldly open to the private sector the national satellite standard imagery the state has accumulated and actively support AI-based innovation by our companies." He said, "Starting with this pilot release, we will continuously expand the scale and methods of disclosure to grow a private sector-led ecosystem for the satellite information utilisation industry."