Press Release
June 25, 2026
Nota AI, a company specializing in AI modelcompression and optimization led by CEO Myungsu Chae, announced that it willparticipate in the “Deep Tech Challenge Project (DCP) – Ecosystem InnovationTrack,” led by SpaceLiinTech, and will be responsible for developing on-deviceAI optimization technology. Supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups andthe Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (TIPA), thefour-year project is eligible for up to KRW 20 billion in funding.
SpaceLiinTech, the lead organization, is aspace biopharma specialist that successfully demonstrated Korea’s first spacebiopharma research module aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Thecompany has also accumulated experience in operating space-based researchthrough the development of a space biosatellite. Through this project, Nota AIwill expand the application of its AI optimization technology from terrestrialedge environments—including smartphones, automobiles, robots, and industrialequipment—into the space industry.
Following SpaceX’s recent record-settinginitial public offering, global investor and industry interest in the broaderspace sector has continued to grow. The space industry is expanding beyondlaunch vehicles and satellites into applications that utilize the spaceenvironment, including biopharma, manufacturing, and data services. Spacebiopharma, in particular, is emerging as a next-generation field withsignificant growth potential.
Space biopharma leverages microgravity toexplore new possibilities in protein structure research and biopharmaceuticalmanufacturing. On Earth, gravity-driven convection, sedimentation, and buoyancycan affect crystallization and mixing processes. Microgravity can reduce theseeffects, creating conditions that can benefit space-based biopharma research.
The project aims to validatebiopharmaceutical structure research and manufacturing in the ISS and otherlow-Earth-orbit microgravity environments, while developing a pharmaceuticalmanufacturing system capable of autonomously managing experimental processes.It will also conduct demonstrations in which samples produced in space arereturned to Earth for analysis, with the goal of expanding the platform forfuture use aboard commercial space stations.
Nota AI will develop on-device AItechnology that enables the space experiment system to analyze data and assessexperiment status locally. Using video and sensor data, the system willrecognize experiment conditions, detect anomalies, and generate natural-languagesummaries for transmission to Earth. Nota AI will compress and optimize the AImodels so they can perform these functions efficiently on resource-constrainedhardware.
Communications, power, computing resources,and thermal capacity are highly constrained in space, making it impractical totransmit all data to Earth for analysis. Local AI capable of processing dataand making assessments within the experiment system is therefore essential.Nota AI’s optimization technology, which enables AI models to run quickly andreliably on limited hardware, is expected to provide a core foundation forautonomous space experiment platforms. The project marks an expansion of Nota AI’son-device AI capabilities—from terrestrial edge environments such as mobiledevices, autonomous driving, and robotics into space, one of the most demandingedge environments.
“Space is an extreme edge environment wherecommunications, power, and computing resources are limited, requiring AI tooperate locally,” said Myungsu Chae, CEO of Nota AI. “This is where the needfor on-device AI optimization becomes especially clear.”
“This project represents an importantmilestone in extending the AI compression and optimization technologies Nota AIhas developed into the space industry,” Chae added. “Guided by our AIEverywhere vision, we will continue strengthening our edge AI competitivenessto meet the unique demands of the space sector.”
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