Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5
By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend:
The contract with manufacturer of the second telecommunication satellite of Azerbaijan Azerspace-2 will be signed in the coming days, deputy minister of communications and high technologies of Azerbaijan Iltimas Mammadov told reporters Nov. 5.
He said that Azerbaijan's first satellite was successfully launched into orbit by the French Arianespace company at the most suitable conditions for Azerbaijan.
"The selection of the company, which will launch a second satellite into orbit, will be also implemented on a tender basis, as was the case with the first satellite," said Mammadov.
The Azerspace/Africasat-1a was launched from the ELA-3 launch complex at Guiana Space Center on Feb. 8, 2013 using an Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket of the French company Arianespace.
The second satellite, Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38, will be manufactured by Space Systems/Loral. The second satellite program will be financed with help of a long-term and concessional loan line from the Export Development Canada (EDC).
The State Procurement Agency of Azerbaijan said earlier that the cost of a second satellite program in Azerbaijan would amount to $191.36 million. It is scheduled for launch in 2017.
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.
Geostationary satellite will be equipped with transponders of Ku- and Ka-band. Azerspace-2 is designed to provide digital broadcasting, Internet access, data transmission, creation of VSAT multiservice networks, and so on.