Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov. 21 /Trend H. Hasanov /
Chairman of the National Space Agency under the Turkmen President Alladurdy Atayev arrived to China with a working visit which will run on November 21-24, an official Turkmen source said on Wednesday.
It is expected that the Turkmen delegation will visit Sichuan province to attend the launch ceremony of ChinaSat-12 communications satellite, and also hold talks on the exchange of experiences in the development of satellite systems.
This summer, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedow met with the president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Ma Sinzhu in Ashgabat
It was noted that the corporation has established cooperation with the national space agency, created one year ago, which is entrusted with the monitoring of Earth-orbiting satellite, conducting research related to outer space, as well as the management of the artificial satellite of Turkmenistan.
According to the contract, in December 2011, the French Thales Alenia Space started construction of the first national satellite in Turkmenistan. In turn, the Chinese Great Wall industrial company signed a contract with Thales, under which China will assist Turkmenistan in launching its first communication satellite.
This is the first satellite in the region which will be launched by Turkmenistan and will make a significant breakthrough in the field of telecommunications, and other applications such as the Internet, mobile communications.
The information says that the new satellite developed by Thales, will weight 4.5 tons, its design life is 15 years. The launch is planned for 2014 from the Chinese Xichang satellite launch center with assistance of Changzheng-3B launch vehicle.
