Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

The launch date of Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38, the second geostationary satellite of Azerbaijan, was postponed from September 7 to September 18, 2018, according to the list of space launches published by Arianespace.

The Azerbaijani satellite will be launched into orbit by an Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport (Guiana Space Centre) in French Guiana, North-East of South America.

In addition to the Azerbaijani satellite, the Horizons 3e satellite of the joint venture of Intelsat and Japanese operator Sky Perfect JSAT Corp will be launched on the same day.

The second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan will be placed in a geostationary orbit 45 degrees east longitude and its service area will cover the countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The satellite’s manufacturer is Space Systems Loral (SSL), which is also a provider of satellite control systems. The new satellite will further ensure the sustainability of the work, and will expand coverage of services.

Azerspace-1, the nation’s first satellite, was launched into orbit on February 8, 2013. At present, its service area includes countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Azerbaijani satellite provides a variety of services, such as digital television, data transmission, VSAT multi-service networks, and governmental communications. The total cost of the Azerspace-1 project was $230 million.

In December 2014, Azercosmos took over the rights to operate and commercialize Azersky, high resolution (1.5 meter imagery products) optical Earth observation satellite, and entered into the commercial business of Earth observation services, including geo-information services. Azerbaijan’s revenue from the operation of Azersky is expected to exceed $200 million within the next decade.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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