South Korea’s first geostationary multi-purpose satellite. Manufactured by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and EADS Astrium of France, the 2.3-tonne satellite launched successfully from the Guiana Space Center on 27 June 2010 and was stationed at an altitude of 36 000 km above the Earth’s equator, performing communication, oceanic, and meteorological observations including the early detection of severe weather phenomena and the monitoring of climate change.