Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 3 / Trend H.Veliyev /
The main satellite control centre of Azercosmos will be fully operational by the end of November, Azercosmos told Trend on Friday.
The centre will be located in the Gyuzdek village of Garadagh district of Baku.
"At present the work on civil construction of major satellite ground station is nearing completion. Work is underway to install IT-infrastructure and equipment. Next stage of construction works will commence in the near future," the company said.
In parallel with the construction of the main center work is ongoing on the construction of a backup satellite control center, which is located on the territory of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (Nehedzhir village, Julfa region).
Today, much of the work on construction and provision the centre with necessary infrastructure is completed. Commission of the backup center is planned for early September.
"Subcontractors of the U.S. Orbital Sciences Corporation completed the installation of antennas in the main and backup control centers. Equipment required for full functionality of both centers, is delivered to Azerbaijan. It will be installed within the next few months by other subcontractors of Orbital Sciences Corporation," the company said.
Construction of the centers is included in the total cost of the project to launch the first telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1 - $ 250 million. 85 percent of this amount falls to foreign borrowings, while 15 per cent - the funds allocated from the state budget.
Azerbaijan's first telecommunication satellite (Azerspace-1) will be delivered to the Kourou spaceport in October 2012, and its launch is scheduled for the next three months.
The French Arianspace will send the satellite into orbit.
Azerspace's manufacturer is Orbital Sciences Corporation. An orbital position of 46 degrees east longitude has been leased from Malaysian satellite operator MEASAT.