Orbital teamed with Thales Alenia Space of France to supply the KOREASAT 6 commercial communications satellite for KT Corporation of the Republic of Korea. Orbital provided its STAR™ satellite platform and carried out engineering, manufacturing, integration and final spacecraft testing at its satellite manufacturing facility located in Dulles, Virginia. Thales Alenia Space acted as prime contractor for the project and provided the communications payload. In addition, the team delivered a ground system to support on-orbit operations of the satellite and Orbital will provide 6 months of on-site support after the satellite is handed over to the customer.
KOREASAT 6 carries 24 Ku-Band channels to provide Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and 6 channels for Direct Broadcast Services (DBS) and to the people of Korea. The spacecraft generates 3.4 kilowatts of payload power and will have a 15-year on-orbit mission life at its orbital slot of 116 degrees East Longitude.
Performance:
Ku-Band
Repeater: 30-for-24 FSS TWTAs, 9-for-6 DBS TWTAs
TWTA Power: 130 W RF and 50W RF
Antennas: One 2.3 m single shell deployable and one 2.3 dual grid array deployable reflectors
Stabilization: 3-axis stabilized
Launch Mass: 2,622 kg (5,780 lb.)
Mission Life: 15 years (fueled for >16 years)
Status:
Launched December 29, 2010. Undergoing in-orbit testing.
Coverage: Korea
Customer: KT Corporation
Mission: Ku-band communications to provide Direct Broadcast Services (DBS) and Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) to the people of Korea
