Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov 19 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Turkmenistan plans to start building its first national satellite this December to launch it in August of 2014.
As reported before, the respective agreement was signed between Turkmen Ministry of Communications and France's Thales Alenia Space. The orbital position will be rented from Space Systems International-Monaco S.A.M.
Thales will also provide assistance to round-the-clock satellite control during 15 years, and will make the personnel skilled.
Thales Alenia Space is one of the recognized world leaders in the space industry and is part of the so-called European space alliance. With its network of large enterprises in France, Italy, Belgium and Spain, the company is specialized in the production of different-purpose satellites and equipment for them. It has won the reputation of leader in the field of space communications, Earth remote control, and navigation.
The use of the satellite will cause a considerable breakthrough in the field of telecommunications, communications and other applications such as the Internet and mobile link.
At the same time, the National Space Agency under the President of Turkmenistan will be responsible to control circumterrestrial orbit, establish satellite connection, carry out scientific researches to explore the space, and organize satellite control from the territory of Turkmenistan.
To some estimates, Turkmenistan's astronautic-climatic conditions are one of the best on the planet in terms of astronomical observations. Particularly, the transparency of the atmosphere, favorable wind conditions, and illumination allow observing space objects for more than 2,000 hours per annum.
An observatory equipped with one-meter long telescope and other devices located at Mountain Dushak in Turkmenistan needs to be refurbished correspondingly.
It is expected that the satellite can be used for the settlement of tasks the economy of Turkmenistan faces. Particularly, it will become possible to observe agricultural areas, carry out researches for the needs of the oil and gas industry, and implement ecological observations from the space.