On 4 December 2018, GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK2A) was successfully launched aboard an Ariane 5 from the European spaceport in Kourou, French-Guyana. It is the first in a pair of civilian geostationary weather satellites (Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-2), developed and built by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute).

Both satellites focus on meteorological survey measurements from a geostationary orbit, 35,786 km above Korea. GK2A carries additional  instrumentation to investigate space weather phenomena.

In cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and international partners, IWF is engaged in GK2A with a four-sensor magnetometer equipment (SOSMAG).

Both satellites have a design life of ten years. The second satellite, GK2B, is scheduled to launch at the end of 2019, also on an Ariane 5.