OREANDA-NEWS. Thales Alenia Space announced today the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of the Koreasat-7 and Koreasat-5A satellites. Both satellites will be operated by KTSAT, a subsidiary of KT Corporation, to provide internet access, multimedia, broadcasting and fixed communications services across South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, India,  Japan, Indochina and the Middle East.

This is a major milestone for both KTSAT and Thales Alenia Space, whose extended, more powerful version  of the flight-proven Spacebus 4000B2 platform was chosen for both spacecraft, each with a payload rated at 7 kW.

Bertrand Maureau, Thales Alenia Space Executive Vice President Business Line Telecommunication, said: “The completion of the PDRs shows that the design of the Spacebus 4000B2 spacecraft perfectly meets KTSAT’s requirements and that the satellites are on track for service entry by the end of 2016. Our aim is to ensure KTSAT's full satisfaction with this large-scale space program, which is very important for both South Korea and Asia. We are delighted to maintain the long-standing relationship of mutual trust between our companies, established over the last decade.”  

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%), is a key European player in space telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, exploration and orbital infrastructures. Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio form the two parent companies' “Space Alliance”, which offers a complete range of services and solutions. Because of its unrivaled expertise in dual (civil/military) missions, constellations, flexible payloads, altimetry, meteorology and high-resolution optical and radar instruments, Thales Alenia Space is the natural partner to countries that want to expand their space program. The company posted consolidated revenues in excess of 2 billion euros in 2013, and has 7,500 employees in six countries.