Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 21 /Trend, H.Valiyev /
Azercosmos Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) of the Azerbaijani Communications and Information Technologies Ministry will announce a tender closing in late 2013 for the construction of a low-orbit satellite, acting Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, Ali Abbasov told journalists on Monday.
According to him, the satellite's construction and orbiting will take two years.
Earlier, the first tender was cancelled.
Azercosmos told Trend that, the tender results were cancelled because of new increased requirements on the technical parameters of the satellite.
According to the Azercosmos' plan, the Earth remote sensing satellite is planned to be launched in 2015.
Azercosmos has conducted studies on the benefits of using low-orbit satellites' advantages for domestic and foreign markets.
Azerbaijan's satellite operator is preparing a business plan on possibilities of introducing and using cosmic radar and optical images both in Azerbaijan and regional countries. Azercosmos is conducting negotiations with the structures, which can become potential buyers of the images from the satellite. The ongoing talks are informative in nature and are designed to create a fertile ground for future cooperation.
At present, Azercosmos is working to establish a universal ground station, which will also be used to receive images from other satellites flying over this region. Works in this direction are planned to be completed by late 2013.