Thales Alenia Space
to build Koreasat-7
and Koreasat-5A
satellites
May 12 2014
Thales Alenia Space
has signed a
contract with the
Korean satellite
service operator KT
Sat, subsidiary of
KT Corporation, to
build two
telecommunications
satellites, Koreasat-7
and Koreasat-5A,
winning the contract
against an
international field
of competitors. The
two satellites will
provide Internet
access, multimedia,
broadcasting and
fixed communications
services.
As program prime
contractor, Thales
Alenia Space is in
charge of the
design, production,
testing and On
Ground Delivery
(OGD) of the
satellites. It will
also take charge of
the launch
campaigns, the
launch and early
operations phase
(LEOP)and in-orbit
tests (IOT).
Built on the
Upgraded Spacebus
4000B2 platform from
Thales Alenia Space,
Koreasat-7 will be
fitted with Ku-band
transponders and Ka-band
transponders.
Koreasat-5A will
carry Ku-band
transponders.
Koreasat-7's
coverage zone
encompasses
Korea,
the
Philippines, Indonesia and India,
while Koreasat-5A
will cover
Korea,
Japan, Indochina and the Middle East. Each satellite will weigh about 3,500 kg at launch and will
offer payload power
of about 7 kW.
Koreasat-7 will be
positioned at 116°
East and Koreasat-5A
at 113° East.
"I would like to
express my warm
thanks to KT Sat for
choosing us to build
these two new
telecommunications
satellites," said
Jean-Loïc Galle,
President and CEO of
Thales Alenia Space.
"KT Sat is a
long-standing
customer, for whom
we already built the
Koreasat-5 and
Koreasat-6
satellites. Through
this new contract,
we are delighted to
support the
development of
large-scale space
programs in
South Korea,
and in
Asia in
general."
