KT Sat, a subsidiary of Korea-based KT Corporation, signed the contract with Thales Alenia Space announced in May 2014 for the construction of two satellites, KoreaSat-5A and KoreaSat-7. The two satellites would provide Internet access, multimedia, broadcasting and fixed communications services.

Built on the Upgraded Spacebus-4000B2 platform from Thales Alenia Space, Koreasat-5A will carry Ku-band transponders and will cover Korea, Japan, Indochina and the Middle-East. The satellite weighed about 3,500kgs at launch and offered a payload power of about 7kW. KoreaSat-5A is positioned at 113° East.

KoreaSat-5A was launched on October 30th, 2017, on a Falcon 9 rocket operated by launch operator SpaceX.