Contract on launching Azerbaijan’s national satellite to be signed.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies will soon sign a general contract with Orbital company and several secondary contracts with insurance companies within the framework of launching the national satellite into the orbit, Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov told reporters.
He said the satellite will be launched into the orbit in June 2012 after the signing of the contract.
The project implementation will take $160 mln including 40 mln to be spent for launching satellite via the rocket carrier. The national satellite will cover Europe (except for Scandinavia) and half of Asia with a greater part of Kazakhstan. The satellite will have transmission for television and radio broadcasting to internet.
Support to Azerbaijan in this project is provided by Silk Sat program developed at the initiative of Russian academician Ronald Sagdeyev working in the United States. The program envisions creation of a single satellite system by way of attracting resources of the United States and Russia.
The project is implemented on the basis of presidential decree about creation of the aerospace industry and launching the telecommunication satellite into the orbit.
APA