Koreasat 3 Satellite to Be Launched in August

The Koreasat 3 telecommunications broadcast satellite will be launched on August 25 at Kourou spaceport in Guiana, Latin America.
Korea Telecom (KT) said the Koreasat (or 'Mugunghwa' in Korean) satellite 3, which weighs 2.8 tons and is 19.2 meters in length, will be launched between 7:33 am and 9:49 am Korean time on August 25 .
The satellite, constructed by Lockheed Marin Telecommunications of the United States, will be put into orbit for 48 days under the control of a European satellite launch service company, Arianespace.
The Koreasat 3 will provide digital satellite broadcasting and multi-media telecommunication services from next year not only for Korea but for Southeast Asia as well, replacing Koreasat 1, which is expected to be disused early next year.
The new satellite, with a 15-year life span, will carry six Ku-band transponders for TV broadcasting and 27 Ku-band transponders for telecommunication, which will make 48 to 168 TV channels available.
A KT spokesman said, 'Koreasat 3 has improved the domestic aerospace industries as five Korean companies, including Hyundai Electronics Industry Company, participated in the construction of the satellite.'
Kang Joo-an : jooan@joongang.co.kr