Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture of Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced today that it has signed a contract with the South Korean company LIG Nex1 Co. Ltd – specialized in the aerospace and defense sector – for the supply of a state-of-the-art digital processor for the GEO-KOMPSAT-3 telecommunications satellite.
With a planned launch in 2027, GEO-KOMPSAT-3 (Korean Geostationary Multifunction Satellite in Earth Orbit 3) is a multiband telecommunications satellite that will provide broadband satellite communications services in the Korean Peninsula and surrounding maritime areas, ensuring the continuity of service of the COMS-1 satellite, currently operating in orbit.
In particular, it will offer support for Korean Coast Guard satellite communications for national maritime rescue and protection.
It will also provide the Ministry of the Environment with stable information on the monitoring of water disasters in mountains, rivers and dams.
It will provide the Ministry of Science and ICT with a satellite communication system for emergency response in disaster situations, as well as an advanced test bed for research activities on national satellite communication.
GEO-KOMPSAT-3 will also feature a system for the collection and retransmission of environmental and water data; and a mission with an accuracy enhancement satellite system (SBAS) for the satellite navigation enhancement service, in particular to support the safe approach of aircraft in the landing phase with vertical guidance.
Korea’s Institute for Electronic Research and Telecommunications (ETRI) will be responsible for the satellite payloads, while the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) will be responsible for the satellite platform.
The state-of-the-art, fully reprogrammable digital processor is a central element of the payload of the flexible Ka-band broadband communication system, which combines transparent and regenerative signal processing via the Digital Channelizer Unit (DCU) and On- sections. Board Processing Unit (OBPU), respectively.
DCUs implement digital process and switching functions with reconfigurable mapping of input and output ports, channels and sub-channels between the different satellite beams; while the OBPUs perform demodulation, decoding, on-board switching based on Internet protocol, coding and modulation of communication signals, thus maximizing the efficient use of satellite capacity.
Thales Alenia Space in Spain is responsible for the technical specifications of the digital processor, design, development, assembly, integration and test (AIT) and delivery.
Thales Alenia Space will also offer support to LIG Nex1 and ETRI at the system engineering and AIT level, in a co-engineering cooperation approach to facilitate the integration of the digital processor with the developed ground support equipment and ground segment. nationwide.
The GEO-KOMPSAT-3 digital processor is based on Thales Alenia Space’s PRODIGE product suite, flexible and flight-tested digital RF processors for compact, digitally processed satellite telecommunications payloads.
This family of software-defined and reconfigurable products is based on a scalable and modular design that is easily adaptable to different customer needs and frequency bands.
“We are extremely proud of the trust placed in us by LIG Nex1 and ETRI for the development of the state-of-the-art digital processor for the GEO-KOMPSAT-3 satellite – explained Stéphane Terranova, CEO of Thales Alenia Space in Spain -. A key mission to provide vital communication services in Korea “
“This contract – he added – confirms the position of world leader and the ability of Thales Alenia Space to meet the evolving needs in the satellite telecommunications market, providing competitive solutions in the areas of transparent and regenerative on-board digital processing and inaugurating a new chapter in the long success story between our company and South Korea “. Thales Alenia Space’s participation in GEO-KOMPSAT-3 is the latest milestone in its long-standing collaboration with South Korea on a number of space programs, including multifunctional geostationary missions (COMS-1, GEO-KOMPSAT 2A and 2B ), the Koreasat satellite telecommunications family (Koreasat 5, 5A, 6 and 7), the Earth observation missions (KOMPSAT 3A, 5, 6 and 7, CAS-500 family and project 425), the Korean exploration program Moon (KPLO) and the Korean Satellite Navigation Enhancement System (KASS).