Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) to provide space inertial reference systems for the GEO-KOMPSAT-2 space satellite pogram.

Under a firm-fixed-price contract worth nearly $9 million, Northrop Grumman is providing its Scalable Space Inertial Reference Units (Scalable SIRU) for the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A and -2B satellites. The Scalable SIRU supplies critical rotation rate data that enable the stabilization, pointing and attitude control of satellites and space vehicles. The contract includes an option for one additional unit to be exercised by July 2015 for the KOMPSAT-6 program.

The GEO-KOMPSAT-2 satellites, which are located in geostationary orbit, provide payloads for meteorological, space weather, ocean and environment monitoring missions. GEO-KOMPSAT-2A is planned for launch in 2018, while the GEO-KOMPSAT-2B launch is expected in 2019. The life span of both satellites is expected to be at least 10 years.

"The Scalable SIRU has displayed unmatched reliability and proven high performance during countless space missions," said Bob Mehltretter, vice president, Navigation and Positioning Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. "Our customers can be confident that our highly capable systems will support the most stringent mission requirements."

The Scalable SIRU is the industry standard for high-precision, long-life attitude control solutions supporting commercial, government and civil space missions. At the heart of the Scalable SIRU is Northrop Grumman's patented hemispherical resonator gyro (HRG) technology. HRGs have been used in space without a mission failure for more than 26 million operating hours and have been launched aboard more than 100 spacecraft.

Since 2007, Northrop Grumman has supplied the Scalable SIRU for satellites developed and operated by KARI, including KOMPSAT-3, KOMPSAT-3A and KOMPSAT-5.