'Bangabandhu Satellite-1' had been scheduled to be launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Monday 7th May on SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket.
Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar said the launch had been postponed due to technical issues but said he is hopeful that it will launch soon.
Speaking at a civic reception last Saturday during her visit to Sydney, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said “Bangabandhu satellite will fly very soon to space. It's already prepared and will be done within the next few days”.
The satellite, weighing 3.7 tons, was built in France at the Thales Elinya Space Facility. According to Thales, the satellite will reduce Bangladesh's digital divide by providing broadcast and communications services to rural areas, including direct-to-home TV broadcasting across the country and in surrounding regions.
After construction and testing, it was sent to Cape Canaveral on a special cargo plane reaching the launch pad in Florida on March 30.
There will be 40 transponders on the Bangabandhu satellite, 20 of which will be kept for use by Bangladesh, and the rest will be rented out to private companies. To control and monitor the satellite, a ground station has been set up in Joydebpur in Gazipur district and at Batbunia in Rangamati.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. Source: AAP
The total cost of implementation of this project is Tk 2,990 crore. Of this, Tk 1,544 crore has been contributed by a government fund. HSBC Bank has also loaned Tk 1,358 crore.
Bangladesh will be the 57th satellite capable country after the launch of the Bangabandhu satellite-1.
