Kabir Humayun : Bangladesh has sought four more orbital slots from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch country’s second satellite Bangabandhu-II into the space.
Officials said the country has taken the move following the successful launching of its first geostationary communication satellite Bangabandhu-I into the orbit this year, reports Daily Sun.
Contacted, Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL) Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood said, “We’ve filed application to the ITU for 69 degree east, 74 degree east, 102 degree east and 133 degree east.”
Mentioning that getting an orbital slot requires a long procedure, Dr Mahmood said: “ITU allocates orbital slot after screening and hearing the applications and objections of many countries.”
The BCSCL Chairman said he has a plan to open a separate cell in the company which would deal with only the orbital slot.
Failing to secure a slot following the objections of different countries in the South Asia and Asia Pacific region, Bangladesh launched Bangabandhu-I into 119.1 degrees east by renting it from Russian company “Intersputnik” at $ 28 million for 15 years.
The satellite, now being run by local engineers with the assistance of Thales’s experts, is waiting to go into commercial operation after overcoming all technical examinations.
Located at the 119.1 east geostationary slot, Bangabandhu-I would cover the SAARC countries and Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkestan and a part of Kazakhstan.
The coverage is the strongest in Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, for which these six countries have initially been chosen for business.
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