Launch date of Azerbaijan’s 2nd geostationary satellite announced
By Naila Huseynli
The launch of Azerbaijan’s second geostationary satellite Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38 into orbit is scheduled for September 7, 2018, Arianespace company reported on 20 August.
The Azerbaijani satellite will be launched into orbit by an Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket from the French Guiana Space Center, which is located in the northeast of South America, in French Guiana.
Launch window is 21:56 - 22:31 GMT (5:56 - 6:31 p.m. EDT).
For fueling, Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38 has been moved to the S3B payload preparation facility.
Besides Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38, the Horizons 3e satellite of the Intelsat joint venture and the Japanese operator Sky Perfect JSAT Corp will be launched on the same day.
The satellite will be put into geostationary orbit at 45 degrees east longitude. Its service zone will include countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Azerbaijan’s first communications satellite Azerspace/Africasat 1a was launched into geostationary orbit at 46 degrees east longitude on February 8, 2013. The satellite was launched from the Kourou space base by Arianespace.
Currently, Azerbaijan has two satellites in orbit - Azerspace-1, which renders telecommunications services in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as AzerSky, which renders services around the world, as well as to such biggest U.S. companies as Google.
The revenue from the first satellite of Azerbaijan Azerspace-1 since its launch into orbit amounted to $72 million and from Azersky satellite – $19 million, as for February 7.
The nation’s first satellite, Azerspace-1 built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, was launched by Ariane 5 into orbit on February 8, 2013. This satellite provides a variety of services. It has transmission capabilities for TV, radio broadcasting, data transmission, VSAT multi-service networks, and governmental communications. The total cost of the Azerspace-1 project was $230 million.
In December 2014, Azercosmos took over the rights to operate and commercialize Azersky, high resolution (1.5 meter imagery products) optical Earth observation satellite, and entered into the commercial business of Earth observation services, including geo-information services. Azerbaijan’s revenue from the operation of Azersky is expected to exceed $200 million within the next decade.
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