* Astronomy

Alcatel Alenia Space has signed a contract with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the republic of South Korea Space Agency, to provide a SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) payload system for KOMPSAT-5, the main Earth observation space program of the Republic of South Korea.

The KOMPSAT-5 program's main objective is to develop, launch and operate an Earth observation SAR satellite system to provide images for geographic information applications and to monitor and prevent environmental disasters.

The KOMPSAT-5 program started on July 1st, 2005. The launch of the satellite is scheduled for the end of 2008, with the objective to complete the in-orbit test during the first half of 2009.

As prime contractor, Alcatel Alenia Space will be responsible for providing a Synthetic Aperture Radar for X-band multimode images, including the data link subsystem for gathering the data transmitted by the radar, archiving them and subsequently transmitting them to the ground station.
In addition, the company will also provide the ground SAR image processor as well as the calibration algorithms and equipments. The SAR will be developed and provided by Alcatel Alenia Space's Italian facilities.

"This contract further strengthens the solid ties between our company and the Republic of South Korea and reaffirms, at an international level, the value of Alcatel Alenia Space's satellite technology in the field of Earth observation and radar systems" - Carlo Alberto Penazzi, Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel Alenia Space in Italy.