Azerbaijan, Baku, May 3 / Trend H.Valiyev /
Azerbaijan's second telecommunications satellite Azerspace-2 is scheduled to be launched into orbit in 2018, chairman of Azerspace Rashad Nabiyev said on Monday in his speech at the Baku Futures Forum held in Baku.
"The contract for Azerbaijan's second satellite programme is currently at the stage of signing," Nabiyev said.
According to him, the programme is in the first place commercial in nature and prior to the launch of the first satellite nearly 40 per cent of its resources had already been sold."We live in a highly competitive environment in the global and modern world. The ICT sector is the most advanced in Azerbaijan after the oil one. Perhaps we will not be able to achieve our goals in a short period of time. Nevertheless, we should take a more creative and innovative approach and offer the right product on the market at the right time," Nabiyev said.
Work on a feasibility study (FS) of the project, coordination of orbital positions and acquiring a new orbital position are currently underway within the project for the launch of the second telecommunications satellite. The procurement procedure will follow later.
Commissioning of the first telecommunications satellite Azerspace/Africasat-1 contributed to the provision of high-speed access to Internet around the country.
Azerspace/Africasat-1a was launched from the ELA-3 base at the Guiana Space Centre on Feb. 8.
The payload of Azerspace/Africasat-1, built on the STAR-2 platform consists of 36 transponders (24 C-band transponders and a 12 Ku-band range). The frequency band of each transponder is 36 MHz. The satellite weighs 3275 kg and its service life in orbit will extend up to 16 years.
The satellite was launched into a geostationary orbit at 46 degrees east longitude and is leased from Malaysia's Measat Satellite Systems owned by the government of Malaysia. Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa were included in the service area of Azerspace.
The satellite is designed to provide digital broadcasting, Internet access, data transmission and the creation of VSAT multiservice networks and governmental communications.