The Bangabandhu Satellite
The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is the greatest achievement
of Bangladesh Government and it is the first Bangladeshi geostationary
communications and Broadcasting Satellite in her history.
The
Bangabandhu-1 satellite was initially planned to be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket
on 16 December 2017, to celebrate Victory Day of Bangladesh. It was
manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and launched on 11 May 2018 from Kennedy
Space Center on Merritt Island,
Florida, USA and utilizes ground control stations built by Thales Alenia Space
with its partner Spectra Primary Ground Station in Gazipur, Dhaka and Secondary
Ground Station at Betbunia, Rangamati. The project is being implemented by
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) working hand-in-hand
with US based Space Partnership International, LLC. It was the first payload
launched by a Falcon 9 Block 5
rocket of Space X.
Bangladesh Government formed a Government owned Bangladesh
Communication Satellite Company
Limited, BCSCL with the aim to operate the Bangabandhu Satellite-1.
The satellite is named after the father of the nation,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia
Space and its launch provider is Space X. The total cost of the
satellite was projected to be 248 million US dollars in 2015
(Tk19.51 billion), financed via
a $188.7 million loan from HSBC Holding. The satellite will expand
Ku-band coverage over all of Bangladesh and its nearby waters including the Bay
of Bengalal, Nepal, Bhutan,
Sri Lanka, the Philippines, East Indian
states (West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura,
Nagaland, Arunachhal Pradeah) and Indonesia.
After launching the satellite, Bangladesh began to
receive test signal from it on May 12, 2018. A ground station has been built in
Bangladesh to control the satellite at Gazipur. A backup ground station was
also built at Betbunia, Rangamati.
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