Azerbaijan, Baku, April 15 / Trend H. Valiyev /
The contract with the producer of the national telecommunications satellite Azerspace is expected to be signed by the end of the month, Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Iltimas Mammadov told Trend today.
Manufacturer of the satellite is the U.S. company Orbital Sciences Corporation.
He said that the other side asked for additional time to review the contract. Therefore, the final decision on the signing is expected t be made before the end of this month.
Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said that the contract for rent of an orbital position is expected to be signed soon. The company, which will deal with insurance, will be determined.
Launch of first satellite is scheduled for June 2012.
Initially, the satellite was supposed to be launched on the basis of the U.S rocket "Falcon".
One of the priority issues facing the ministry is the realization of satellite resources. The Ministry intends to withdraw 80 percent of Azerspace resources to the international market, and the remaining 20 percent use on intrarepublican level. Malaysia expressed willingness to acquire 40 percent of satellite resources.
Cost of the satellite will hit 163 million manat.
Construction of the satellite will cost 87 million manat, 40 million manat will be spent to orbit the satellite. The satellite control center will cost 16 million manat but the rest 18 million manat will be spent on full insurance of new satellite.
The term of the satellite will be 15 years, the payback period - about five years.
launching of the satellite to the orbit will be the first step in the implementation of promising projects to turn Azerbaijan in a country with the space industry.