Dhaka, May 6 – After a number date change and delays, the launch of the much anticipated Bangabandhu satellite is going to take place on May 10, confirmed the telecom regulator in Bangladesh.Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Dr Shahjahan Mahmood told Journalists on Monday that if “there is no other technical difficulties” and “weather conditions remains in favor”, then it will be launched on May 10.
Here, in Florida, different sources confirmed Journalists that the country’s first satellite is all set to be launched by Falcon 9 rocket of US launching firm Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) from Cape Canaveral launching pad.
Six officials of the BTRC and satellite project are already in Florida and 42 more, including two state ministers left for USA yesterday. The Prime Minister’s ICT Affair Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who is now in the USA, would lead the delegation.
The Bangabandhu satellite, Bangladesh’s first, received “go-ahead” at a cabinet meeting in 2015. BTRC signed a loan deal worth Tk 20 billion with Thales Group to buy ‘satellite systems.’
It signed a Tk 4 billion loan deal with HSBC in September last year to send the satellite into orbit.
The satellite is expected to save Tk 14 million a year that is currently spent on renting foreign satellites.
The satellite will contain 40 transponders; Bangladesh will use 20 and rent out the rest.
The two ground stations that will control the satellite will be built at Gazipur’s Joydebpur and Rangamati’s Betbunia on the land owned by Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL). – Staff Reporter
