Negotiations with Iran on launching Earth sensing satellite underway
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran within transport and communications is ongoing, and the satellite communications sphere has occupied a special place in this cooperation.
A source in Azercosmos, Azerbaijan’s satellite operator, has told Trend that the issue of Azerbaijan and Iran’s joint production and launch of the Earth sensing satellite is currently at the beginning stage of discussion.
Earlier, Ramin Guluzade, Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, said that there is ongoing negotiation process between the countries on a joint satellite project. Azercosmos has direct contacts with relevant Iranian agencies and continues discussions on this issue.
Azercosmos is a sole satellite operator in the Caucasus, which launched Azerspace-1 on February 8, 2013 and became the first ever satellite of Azerbaijan. With its high-skilled personnel and advanced technical capacity, Azercosmos has succeeded in becoming one of the driving forces of the ICT sector both in the country and region during the short period since its inception.
In addition, other countries, such as Turkey also intend to cooperate with Azercosmos. As an example Turkish Space Agency wishes to establish fruitful cooperation due to experience of Azercosmos in the space technology sphere.
Strategic development plans of Azercosmos include enhancing the coverage area and spectrum of services provided. For this purpose, on September 25, 2018, Azercosmos launched its second telecommunications satellite Azerspace-2 in a geostationary orbit of 45 degrees East longitude.
As for statistics, according to the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication, Azercosmos’ revenues from the commercial exploitation of satellites in January-May 2019 amounted to $16.1 million and showed a growth by 46 percent in comparison with the same period of 2018.
In the reporting period, Azercosmos’ services were exported to 18 countries. The majority of the company's services accounted for the U.S. ($4.8 million), Malaysia ($4.2 million), France ($4 million), the Great Britain ($1.6 million) and the United Arab Emirates ($640,000).
According to the Center, revenues from the export of services during the reporting period amounted to 88 percent of the total revenues of Azercosmos in January-May 2019.
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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