AsphoriX is an AI optics foundry. We combine AI closed-loop process control with robotic ultra-precision polishing to mass-produce medium- and large-aperture aspheric optics for space, defense, and semiconductor customers at high yield and short lead time.
Medium- and large-aperture aspheric optics have long depended on the hands and judgment of master opticians. AsphoriX layers measurement-driven AI process control on top of thirty years of aspheric production know-how built through academia–institute collaboration, so the same optical surface can be reproduced faster and more consistently.
Large-aperture aspheric fabrication know-how descending from the UCL / Zeeko lineage
Wavefront error and surface roughness measured in a single cell
Surface roughness target Ra 1 nm · specifications agreed per material and geometry
Global supply built on transaction-level export-control review
Deliver mission-critical optics for space, defense, and semiconductors at high yield and short lead time, so the optical system stops being the bottleneck that dictates a mission's schedule and cost.
Standardize an automated line where metrology, machining, and AI correction form one loop, and become a trusted partner in the global space and defense optics supply chain.
Demanding aspheric optics have been made one piece at a time, project by project. Lead time, cost, yield, and sourcing are not craftsmanship problems but process-architecture problems. AsphoriX resolves them with a closed loop in which measurement data determines the next machining step.
A fragmented sequence of machining → unloading and transfer → measurement → expert judgment → re-machining. Months-long deliveries and repeated rework are the norm for demanding projects.
Metrology results feed back in real time so the next machining strategy is generated autonomously. Our validation targets are a 70% reduction in lead time and first-pass yield above 95%.
High-specification optics are controlled by item, technology, and end use, leaving global space and defense customers without a dependable alternative supplier.
Technical data is built from Korean and allied-nation technology plus proprietary algorithms, and every shipment is preceded by a transaction-level export-control review.
Even identical specifications yield different results every time. Volume and repeat production cannot exist in a one-optician-per-part structure.
Automated cells that combine a metrology-and-machining data lake with robotic handling are replicated at line and factory scale. We scale the system, not the headcount.
A measurement is not an inspection report; it is the input that determines the next machining condition. AsphoriX's proprietary software registers heterogeneous metrology data into a single coordinate frame, learns from the result, and updates the process recipe automatically. Measurement and machining repeat unattended until the target accuracy is reached.
Proprietary software that registers and fuses data from heterogeneous instruments into one coordinate frame, turning nanometre-scale wavefront error and surface roughness into a single error map.
Learns from metrology data and process history to compute the correction applied to the next machining pass. Built on our experimentally grounded machine-learning research on deterministic polishing metrics (Optics Express, 2026).
Process recipes and machining strategies are generated and updated automatically, while a statistical process control (SPC) model forecasts quality and minimizes variation. The more data accumulates, the harder the moat is to follow.
Machining cells, metrology stations, the data lake, and robotic handling are integrated into one line. A scalable facility architecture that replicates a validated cell into lines and a factory.
AsphoriX did not begin with an equipment purchase. Thirty years of hands-on experience by our two founders in NASA space telescopes, extremely large ground-based telescopes, and Korean space payloads is embodied in our process data and know-how.
Sug-Whan Kim, University College London (UCL)
Contributed to the Precessions core technology · robotic polisher development begins
With NASA JPL / Caltech · fabrication and assembly of the core optics
Pioneering large-aperture aspheric production research in Korea
Jeong-Yeol Han, University of Science and Technology (UST) · visiting researcher, College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona
Jeong-Yeol Han, full-cycle research on space telescopes and payload optics: design, fabrication, metrology, and alignment
Ultra-lightweight advanced-material optics · NASA Mirror Technology Days · production and metrology for the 25 m Giant Magellan Telescope
Korea's academia–institute experts in aspheric fabrication, production, and alignment come together
Research-institute spin-off · launch of the AI optics foundry
Participation in fabricating and assembling the core optics of the ultraviolet space telescope developed with NASA JPL / Caltech. The origin of our space-grade aspheric design and fabrication capability.
Collaborative research on space-environment testing of ultra-lightweight and all-SiC optical surfaces with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, home of the cryogenic testing of the James Webb Space Telescope mirror segments.
Contributions to advancing the production process and metrology of extremely large aspheric mirrors. A reference for the next generation of telescopes, where segmented and advanced-material mirrors keep raising the bar for metrology and fabrication.
Aspheric, off-axis, and freeform mirrors and optical elements directly determine the performance, cost, and schedule of observation and surveillance missions. AsphoriX focuses where specifications are high and quantities repeat.
Optics for Earth-observation satellites, space telescopes, and LEO constellations.
Seeker, fire-control, surveillance, and infrared search-and-track (IRST) optics.
High-precision optics for ground telescopes and metrology or laser instruments.
An expansion area including aspheric mirrors for lithography and inspection.
The structural gap between ITAR-controlled U.S. suppliers and sanctioned suppliers is AsphoriX's opportunity. But "ITAR-free" never means "free to export anywhere." Export-control compliance by country, customer, and end use is the premise of our business.
Technical data is composed of Korean-owned and transferred technology, openly published models, and proprietary recipes, excluding dependence on U.S. ITAR technology.
Country of origin is verified for equipment, materials, and software, with USML / ECCN and de minimis criteria reviewed in advance.
Access to customer drawings and defense requirements is segregated, and foreign-national access and the scope of technical-data sharing are controlled.
Country, customer, and end-use screening precede every shipment; export licenses are obtained when required and export-control clauses are written into contracts.
AsphoriX does not scale by hiring. We validate a metrology-centred cell on customer parts, then replicate that same structure into lines and a factory. The unit of expansion is not skilled labour but the process itself, with its accumulated data.
Machining and metrology are combined into a single cell, and repeatability against the target specification is confirmed on customer coupons. The metrology and machining data gathered here become the reference for every later stage.
The validated cell is replicated without design changes to form a line. Process recipes and quality history carry over intact, so adding capacity does not add quality variation.
Multiple lines run under one data system, with robotic handling and statistical process control linked in. The goal is repeat multi-product production sustained without manual intervention.
※ Detailed build-out plans, equipment configuration, certification schedules, and supply commitments are shared separately after a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Full-cycle space-optics systems experience and thirty years of aspheric production technology in one team. The people who understand world-class equipment best accumulate metrology-and-machining data and recipes to reproduce production quality.
A space-optics systems expert with full-cycle experience in the design, fabrication, metrology, alignment, and performance evaluation of medium/large-aperture, off-axis, aspheric, and freeform optics. Collaborations with NASA MSFC and NOIRLab, contributions to the GMT, and industry experience at Samsung Thales.
View profile →Pioneer of large-aperture aspheric production technology in Korea. Earned his doctorate on active polishing of large aspheric optics and contributed to the Precessions technology that became Zeeko. NASA GALEX participant, Caltech visiting faculty, and NASA JPL non-resident scientist.
View profile →AsphoriX pursues collaborations that begin with customer coupon validation and grow into long-term supply partnerships. Detailed technical materials and investor documents are provided after a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Coupon machining validation, prototype supply, and priority-capacity discussions for defense primes, satellite payload makers, space agencies, and precision or semiconductor equipment companies.
Joint development with universities, research institutes, and equipment makers in polishing-process control algorithms, precision metrology, advanced-material optics, and space-environment testing.
Verifiable, milestone-based growth (R&D cell → pilot → Line 1) in a high-end space and defense optics market with substantial import-substitution potential.
We welcome inquiries about technical collaboration, products, investment, careers, and media. Sensitive technical materials are shared after an NDA is in place.