Bangladesh signs orbital slot lease deal for Bangabandhu satellite

Bangladesh has signed a deal with Moscow-based Intersputnik for taking on lease an orbital slot for its first satellite, ‘Bangabandhu’.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will pay $28 million for the use of frequencies at 119.1 degree East Orbital Slot.

BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose said the satellite was important for Bangladesh.

“It’s not possible to become a rich nation by exporting unskilled and semi-educated manpower,” he said Thursday.

Intersputnik in a statement said the route would be used to carry 40 transponders for telecommunications, video and audio broadcast.

Each transponder has a 36 MHz capacity.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Sept 16 approved a Tk 29.68 billion project for the satellite.

Of the amount, the government will provide a little over Tk 13.15 billion, while the rest will come as 'project aid' through 'bidders financing'.

“It will be possible to let other countries use our satellite once the project is implemented,” Bose said, hoping to launch the satellite by June 2017.

“We’ll use 20 of the transponders and sell the rest. We’re taking a commercial approach,” he added.

BTRC Commissioner Monirul Islam and Director General of Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, Vadim Belov, signed the agreement on Thursday in Dhaka.

Two ground stations that will control the satellite will be built at Gazipur's Joydebpur and Rangamati's Betbunia.

US company Space Partnership International is designing the satellite.

The BTRC chief said they were planning to launch more satellites and eventually establish a company.

“We’ll start marketing for our satellite (Bangabandhu) by the end of this year,” Bose said.

“This way, it won’t sit idle once it’s up and running and we’ll be able to earn foreign exchange.”