Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been gifted a replica of Bangabandhu-1, the first Bangladeshi satellite, which is scheduled to be launched into the orbit this December.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim handed over the replica to the prime minister during the cabinet meeting at the secretariat on Monday, said Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam.
The Bangabandhu-1 will provide 40 different types of services once launched into orbit. The satellite with 1,600MHz capacity will have 40 transponders and the physical equipment of the space capsule that measures the capacity. Half of the capacity will be reserved for Bangladesh while the other half will be rented out.
In 2008, the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) completed the primary work, including the submission of electronic filing to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to launch the satellite.
It is the most technologically advanced project to have been undertaken by the Bangladesh government. A budget of Tk2,969 crore was approved to reduce dependency on foreign countries.
Bangabandhu-1 is a satellite telecommunications system, comprising a satellite and the complete ground segment (control, mission and user segments). It will be launched using a Falcon-9 rocket of the SpaceX programme from Cape Canaveral in the US.
An agreement has already been signed between SpaceX, USA and Thales.
On September 9, 2016, an agreement of 157 million Euros (equivalent to Tk1,400 crore) with HSBC was signed for financing the project.
Currently, Bangladesh rents bandwidth from foreign operators at $14 million per year to meet national satellite connectivity demands.
Also Read- Tarana hopes to launch Bangladesh’s first satellite on December 16