Bangabandhu-1 satellite is insured, says Bangladesh official

The Bangladesh government is in no danger of counting financial losses should things go wrong during the launch of Bangabandhu-1 as the satellite is covered by insurance, says the chief of Bangladesh telecom regulators.

Manufacturer Thales Alenia Space of France will bear the liabilities for any eventuality, Shahjahan Mahmood told bdnews24.com from Florida where SpaceX was ready for the second attempt to send the satellite to orbit early on Saturday Bangladesh time.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission chairman made the comment amid intense discussions in the country over the issue after SpaceX aborted the launch less than a minute before blastoff early on Friday.

Speaking about the complexities that forced SpaceX to postpone the launch by a day, the BTRC chief said the problem was in a software at the ground station at Kennedy Space Center in the US, not in the rocket or the satellite.

If it fails again, SpaceX will try to launch the rocket carrying the satellite early on Sunday.

The satellite is expected to save Bangladesh Tk 14 million a year that the country is currently spending on renting foreign satellites.

The government is also expecting to earn Tk 2.5 to 3 billion annually from the satellite and start making profit in six to seven years’ time.