Think you've had a challenging day? How about, “We have faced significant challenges on this program, including the tight delivery schedules and having to manage subcontractors from seven countries on three continents."
GEO-KOMPSAT 2A [KARI]
Thales Alenia Space Spain has delivered the second of three panels that will be used to mount the Observation Data Communication Subsystem (ODCS) on GEOKOMPSAT-2 satellites being built by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
GEO-KOMPSAT-2 (Geostationary Earth Orbit Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite) is a key South Korean space program that will provide vital meteorological, oceanic and environmental data for both government bodies and private end-users. The program is comprised of two satellites, GK2A and GK2B, each weighing around 3.5 tons, that will be located at 128.2 Љ East longitude in geostationary orbit—36,000 kilometers above the equator. The two satellites are scheduled for launch in 2018 and 2019.
A major export contract Thales Alenia Space Spain was chosen as prime contractor for the communications payloads on these two satellites, the company’s largest export contract since being founded 28 years ago.
Thales Alenia Space Spain leads a consortium of 10 companies from seven countries on this program (South Korea, Japan, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany and Spain). The three panels being supplied for GK2A and GK2B, each measuring nearly 3 meters by 3 meters, are the largest panels integrated to date in Spain.
Eduardo Bellido, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Spain shared, “Delivery of the second GK2A satellite panel to South Korea is a major program milestone. We have faced significant challenges on this program, including the tight delivery schedules and having to manage subcontractors from seven countries on three continents. But the experience we have gained as prime on the GK2 communications payload will place us in an excellent position as new opportunities arise, including planned telecommunications programs in Spain.”
Meteorological, climate and ocean monitoring The GK2A satellite will carry out meteorological and space environment monitoring, using two main instruments: AMI (Advanced Meteorological Imager) and KSEM (Korean Space Environment Monitor). Thales Alenia Space Spain has already integrated and tested the ODCS on two panels on this satellite provided by KARI, housing the subsystem that transmits to Earth the raw data from the instruments, as well as a communications payload comprising two repeaters, used to retransmit processed data to end-users. The second integrated panel was shipped to South Korea on December 1, 2016, to be assembled on the GK2A satellite.
The GK2B satellite is designed to monitor oceans and the Earth’s environment, also using two dedicated instruments: GOCI-II (Geostationary Ocean Color Imager-II) and GEMS (Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer). Thales Alenia Space Spain is integrating one panel for this satellite, which will complete the ODCS subsystem.
