TRW has delivered the first of two spacecraft comprising the Korean Multipurpose Satellite (KOMPSAT) program to the Republic of Korea's space agency, the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

The spacecraft is a flight-worthy protoflight model which was

assembled, integrated and tested at TRW's Redondo Beach manufacturing

facilities to verify the structural and functional design of the

satellite. TRW also trained engineers from KARI in spacecraft

development and worked with Korean industrial partners to build and

test space-qualified hardware.

"We are proud to have made this contribution to Korea's space

program," said Joanne Maguire, vice president and general manager of

TRW's Space & Laser Programs Division. "KARI and the Korean industrial

team gained valuable hands-on experience working side-by-side with our

engineers on the protoflight model. KOMPSAT is sure to enhance

Korea's space development infrastructure and is a key component of its

20-year plan," Maguire added.

The KOMPSAT flight model will be assembled, integrated and tested

at KARI facilities by Korean engineers with support from TRW. Plans

call for it to be launched next year into a low-Earth-orbit by a

Taurus booster from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In 1995, TRW was awarded a 52-month contract to build two

satellites based on TRW's modular, lightweight satellite bus

technology. The satellites host scientific payloads for ocean color

imaging, multi-spectral sensing and space physics measurements.

The flight model also includes an electro-optical camera with

seven-meter resolution built by TRW. The camera will provide

cartography data for developing digital elevation maps of the Korean

peninsula for land use and planning purposes.

KOMPSAT represents the first joint satellite development project

undertaken by KARI. Resident at TRW, 57 KARI engineers participated in

program activities as full members of the development team, honing the

technical and managerial skills needed to design, build, test, launch

and operate a spacecraft.

TRW also worked closely with Korean industrial companies to build

high-reliability, space-qualified hardware for KOMPSAT. Daewoo

provided the attitude and orbit control subsystem; Halla and Hanwah,

the propulsion subsystem; Hyundai, electrical power system components;

Korean Air and Doowon, the structural and thermal subsystem; and

Samsung, the on-board computer and satellite system test equipment.