Baku, Azerbaijan, May 21
By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend:
The winner of the tender for the construction of a second telecommunications satellite Azerspace-2 will be determined by mid-June, Azercosmos Open Joint Stock Company (OJSCo) told Trend May 21.
Companies from the United States (Orbital and Space Systems Loral), China (China Great Wall Industry Corporation) and France (Airbus Defence and Space) participate in the tender for the construction of the Azerspace-2 satellite and the supply of ground control center.
"Given the complexity of the tender procedure, it is impossible to assess the proposals of its participants in a short time," said the company. "Therefore, it is unlikely that the results of the tender will be announced this month. The tender procedure is likely to be completed by mid-June."
Regarding the insurance of the satellite, the company said that this issue will have been considered by the time of its launch into orbit, which is scheduled for 2017.
Under the terms of the tender, work on the installation of a ground station equipment must be completed no later than 2017, and the ready satellite must be sent to the launch site before the end of 2017.
The satellite will be placed at the orbital position of 45 degrees east longitude, leased by the Azerbaijani side from the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Intelsat, which also acts like a lessee of 45.9 percent of satellite resources. The service area of Azerspace-2 will include the countries of Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Geostationary satellite will be equipped with transponders of Ku- and Ka-band and is designed to render the digital broadcasting, Internet access, and data transmission services, as well as the creation of VSAT multiservice networks, etc..
Azerspace/Africasat-1a was launched from the ELA-3 launch complex of the Guiana Space Centre on February 8, 2013 on the Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket of the French company, Arianespace. The service area of the Azerspace/Africasat-1a covers the countries in Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Edited by CN
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyev
