Mobilint's Homegrown NPU Passes Space Validation, Installed on Nuri 5's Secondary Payload Satellite

Mobilint announced on the 8th that its AI semiconductor had been installed on BEE-1012, a secondary payload satellite on Nuri 5 that was launched on the 7th. As a result, Mobilint's NPU is headed into space on the back of the Nuri 5 launch. BEE-1012 is Space Lynk's satellite for demonstrating space pharmaceuticals.

The payloads on BEE-1012 included two NPU boards based on Mobilint's AI semiconductor REGULUS. Mobilint will now verify the boards' performance in the space environment by installing them on an actual satellite.

One of the boards was jointly developed by KAI and Punjin and is used for satellite health analysis. The board runs an AI model that analyzes satellite health data and performs computations to detect anomalies and identify causes, supporting autonomous fault response and operational decision-making.

The other board was co-developed with Space Lynk and is used to observe protein crystal growth and analyze images. This is the first case in which a domestically developed NPU semiconductor designed and built by a Korean company has been installed on an actual satellite and then verified for performance in space.

Space Lynk and Mobilint jointly developed the NPU board. The board is equipped to analyze protein crystal growth images taken in a microgravity environment. The goal is to determine the state of crystal growth and use the analysis results to adjust experimental conditions and select the data needed.

In this project, Mobilint provided not only the NPU semiconductor itself, but also design, production, and testing of a mission-customized NPU board for the satellite, AI model integration, and stabilization of communication with the satellite's onboard control computer.

The two boards directly process data inside the satellite based on On-board AI. Given the constraints of space, where communication time with ground stations is limited, the system analyzes data first inside the satellite instead of transmitting all of it to the ground, then selects only the needed information and sends that. As a result, it is expected to reduce the amount of data sent to the ground and shorten the time required for data analysis and decision-making.

This demonstration focuses on confirming the on-orbit normal operation of the NPU boards and AI models in an actual satellite environment with power and communication limitations. Shin Dong-ju, CEO of Mobilint, said that in space, not only sending data to the ground but also the ability to analyze and make decisions on site is important.

Mobilint plans to first confirm whether the payload boards are operating normally during the satellite's initial operation phase, then gradually verify on-orbit AI function tests and mission data processing results. Through this, it aims to secure operational data from the actual space environment. It also plans to develop high-reliability edge AI products and systems suited to the space environment based on the data it acquires.

This installation is significant in that a domestically developed AI semiconductor has been applied to an actual satellite system. Mobilint handled semiconductor design and development, satellite mission board production, and software integration. Based on this, it aims to expand the areas in which AI semiconductors are applied to the space sector.

Shin Dong-ju, CEO of Mobilint, said this installation will serve as a starting point for securing operational data from homegrown AI semiconductors. He also said the company plans to advance the necessary technologies for customers seeking to apply AI in space and in environments with power and communication constraints.

Source: TECHWORLD · Park Gyu-chan
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407913

References

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