Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend:
Azerbaijan's second telecommunications satellite Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 will be launched into the orbit by a French company, Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ali Abbasov told reporters.
Azerspace/Africasat-1a was launched into the orbit from the ELA-3 launch complex of the Guiana Space Centre on February 8, 2013 on the Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket of the French company, Arianespace.
The minister said that the second satellite will be a part of a new satellite constellation, which includes radar satellites as well. This advantage will allow Azerbaijan to use not only the telecommunications capabilities of the spacecraft, but also enhance the ability to monitor the Earth's surface.
Subsidiary of Canada's MDA corporation, Space Systems/Loral (SSL), which is a leading provider of commercial satellites, was earlier selected to build the second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan (Azerspace-2).
SSL is based in Palo Alto, California.
The satellite design is based on the highly reliable SSL 1300 satellite platform that provides the flexibility for a broad range of applications and technology advances. It is scheduled for launch in 2017.
The second satellite program will be financed with long-term and concessional loan from Export Development Canada (EDC).
The satellite will be located at the 45 degrees east orbital location leased by the Azerbaijani side from the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Intelsat which is the leaseholder of 45.9 percent of the satellite's resources. The service area of Azerspace-2 will cover Europe, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa.