Azercosmos to control two more satellites
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan will gain the control of two more low-orbit satellites, the Communications and High Technologies Ministry reported.
The Ministry said, Azerbaijan's Space Agency Azercosmos and the French company "Airbus Defence and Space" will jointly use the low-earth-orbit satellites SPOT 6 and SPOT 7.
Each of these satellites is capable of daily surveying an Earth's surface area up to three million square kilometers.
The satellites have higher capacity than their predecessors - spacecraft SPOT 4 and SPOT 5. In addition, they allow taking pictures of the earth's surface with a resolution of up to 1.5 meters in panchromatic mode and up to six meters using multispectral imaging. The Swath width of the survey is 60 km.
Currently, the preparation process of an agreement on strategic cooperation between the Ministry and Airbus Defence and Space is in its final stage. The agreement also calls for sharing of data from satellites, as well as equitable distribution of income derived from the operation of the satellites between the Airbus Defence and Space and Azercosmos.
The Ministry noted that SPOT 7 satellite will be fully transferred to the ownership of Azercosmos by the year-end, after which its commercial operation will began.
The remote-sensing satellite SPOT 6 was launched in September 2012, and SPOT-7 - this June. Azercosmos and Airbus Defence and Space signed a memorandum of understanding in May.
The launch of the SPOT-7 satellite is an important step in the process of completing the implementation of the agreement on strategic cooperation with Azercosmos, which involves widening opportunities in the field of geo-information.
Azerbaijan became a member of the space club by launching its own satellite into orbit in February 2013 with the Ariane 5 ECA launcher of French "Arianespace" company. One of the "Arianespace" shareholders is "EADS-Astrium".
Azerspace-1 telecommunication satellite covers Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North Africa. The second satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2017.
The Airbus Defense and Space is also expected to participate in a tender for the construction of the second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan - "Azerspace-2."