Bangabandhu-1 is likely to begin its journey to space next month and the country's first commercial satellite will be ready for use in three months after the launch.
The satellite is all set to be sent into orbit, said Shahjahan Mahmood, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), which is dealing with the much-talked-about project.
French company Thales Alenia Space, the designer and maker of Bangabandhu-1, has already carried out several test runs. It is now waiting to hand over the satellite to the launching station in Florida, USA, due to the packed schedule of the station.
Initially, the launch was scheduled for the Victory Day on December 16 last year. However, it was delayed by three months to this March after Hurricane Irma and subsequent flood hit Florida last year, said officials concerned.
Talking to The Daily Star recently, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, “Right now it's confirmed that it [the satellite] won't be launched in March. It could be anytime in the first half of April.
“The launcher will give the go-ahead 15 days before the launch. Nothing can be said before that confirmation,” he added.
Asked about the possible date of the launch, the BTRC chairman echoed the minister. “Whenever we get the date, the French company will transport the satellite to Florida from France in a cargo craft.”
Bangabandhu-1, to be launched from Florida's Space X launch pad, would take eight days to reach its orbital slot at 119.1 degrees east, he said.
Three weeks would be needed for the satellite to reach its position in space, said officials concerned, adding that it would be ready for commercial use in another two months.
Minister Mustafa Jabbar said the government, which termed Bangabandhu-1 a “national pride”, was making huge preparations for celebrating the launch.
“We will organise a massive nationwide celebration programme as this will be one of the biggest achievements of the country,” he said, adding that colourful balloons would be released and fireworks would be organised as part of the festival.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will watch the launch live from Dhaka through video conference while her ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy will be present at the launching station for monitoring.
A 22-member team, led by Tarana Halim, state minister for information, will also be in Florida during that time. Tarana was the state minister for telecom even around two months ago.
Talking about the benefits of the satellite, project officials said it would immensely contribute to the digital advancement of the country.
Currently, Bangladesh meets its demand for satellite connectivity by renting bandwidth from foreign operators which costs the country about $14 million a year. Once launched, Bangabandhu-1 will save the foreign currency expenditure.
It will also improve the Direct to Home (D2H) services, making people's access to worldwide TV entertainment faster and easier.
Bangabandhu-1 will have 40 transponders and three of them would be required for broadcasting TV channels.
The country's remotest parts, having haors, coastal areas and deep-sea zones, will also have impressive internet connectivity. It will also be helpful for distance learning, treatment, improvement of weather forecast facilities and surveillance activities.
“The satellite will be a game changer in rescue operations following natural disasters,” said the BTRC chairman.
TV STATIONS WAITING FOR BANGABANDHU-1
Project sources said relevant officials have already met top officials from the TV satellite channels, who talked about their demands and received feedback.
As many as 30 TV channels have jointly demanded 90 megahertz and that could be provided from three transponders.
“We will have a trial run after the launch of the satellite and then we will jointly make our final decision,” said Mozammel Haque Babu, chief editor of Ekattor TV.
“Bangabandhu-1 is our national pride. Though this satellite would be far from the one being used by the TV channels now, we will try to make adjustments,” he said, adding that the channels were paying $7.2 million annually for the service.
A top official from another satellite channel said they were yet to get the technical specifications from the Bangabandhu-1 satellite authorities to check that with the position of the current satellite.
“They told us that we will get that information after the launch,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
Currently, all the private TV channels in Bangladesh are running with the connectivity of Apstar-7 satellite which is near to Bangladesh at 76.65 degrees east. Only government-owned BTV uses Asiasat-7, another satellite, which is at 105.5 degrees east.
As Bangabandhu-1 satellite is very far from Dhaka, BTRC would also establish two separate Career Monitoring System stations -- one in Indonesia and the other in Philippines -- under the project.
“From those two stations we can easily monitor our satellite as its geographical location will be in that area,” said another official, wishing not to be named.