[Satellite TODAY 07-24-13] Astrium has recently signed a contract with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the South Korean space agency. Under the terms of this contract, Astrium and KARI will jointly design and manufacture the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager II (GOCI II) for the future Korean mission GEO Kompsat 2B, scheduled for launch in 2019.

 

      The GOCI II instrument is designed to provide detailed observations of the oceans, providing key insights to scientists and researchers. GOCI II is the next generation to the GOCI first generation imager onboard the COMS satellite. GOCI was also developed by Astrium and has been successfully operated by the South Korean space agency since its launch in 2010.

 

      The new contract signed with KARI also stipulates that six Korean engineers will help to develop the instrument at the Astrium site in Toulouse. Astrium has agreed to use South Korean industrial services amounting to 5 percent of the contract price. In addition, test resources made available by KARI at its Daejeon site in Korea will be used for environment testing.