Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 9
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s geostationary satellite Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38 was delivered to the French Guiana Space Center.
“Another satellite arrival in French Guiana, this time for Ariane5 Flight VA243! Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 was delivered ahead of its dual-passenger launch,” CEO of Arianespace company Stephane Israel tweeted.
The launch of the satellite is scheduled for September 2018.
The Azerbaijani satellite will be launched into orbit by Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket. Besides Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38, the Horizons 3e satellite of the Intelsat joint venture and the Japanese operator Sky Perfect JSAT Corp will be launched on the same day.
The satellite will be launched into geostationary orbit at 45 degrees east longitude. Its service zone will include countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, Middle East and Africa.
The satellite manufacturer is a subsidiary of the Canadian corporation MDA-Space Systems Loral (SSL), which is also a supplier of spacecraft control systems.
The first communications satellite Azerspace/Africasat 1a was launched into geostationary orbit at 46 degrees east longitude on Feb. 8, 2013. The satellite was launched from the Kourou space base by Arianespace.
Presently, Azerbaijan has two satellites in orbit - Azerspace-1, which renders telecommunications services in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as AzerSky, which renders services around the world, as well as to such biggest US companies as Google.
Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli