TODAY.AZ / Business

Azercosmos' revenues increase dramatically

02 September 2019 [14:05] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan carries out long-term space industry development programs to further strengthen its position in the global space industry market.

Azercosmos OJSC was established to implement the launch, operation and exploitation of telecommunication satellites of Azerbaijan. Azercosmos operates satellites and other devices used at different heights in order to support the country’s socio-economic development, commercial, scientific activities as well as to provide public telecommunication services.

The revenues of Azercosmos from commercial exploitation of its satellites amounted to $25.5 million in January-July 2019, according to the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication. This is 82 percent more than in the same period in 2018.

Azercosmos services were exported to 22 countries in the first seven months of 2019. The majority of the services accounted for the U.S. ($9 million), France ($6 million), Malaysia ($4.2 million), the UK ($3.7 million) and the UAE ($838,000).

Revenues from the export of services during the reporting period amounted to 89 percent of the total revenues of Azercosmos. The company exported services worth $6.9 million to 21 countries in July.

The revenues of Azercosmos from the export of satellite and telecommunication services amounted to $25.6 million in 2018. The profit of Azercosmos is expected to be $45 million by the end of 2019. The company has recently signed contracts with new customers from 9 countries.

Currently, Azercosmos operates Azerspace-1, Azerspace-2 geostationary satellites and low-altitude AzerSky satellite. Over 150 television and radio channels, which are broadcast via Azercosmos’ satellites, have a total audience of over 20 million people.

The first satellite of Azerbaijan, Azerspace-1, was launched into space in 2013 from the Kuru cosmodrome in South America. At present, its service area includes countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The income from using the first telecommunications satellite has amounted to more than $72 million.

At the same time, the country has earned over $19 million from using the Azersky satellite, operating since 2014 and intended to monitor the surface of the Earth. Azerbaijan’s revenue from the operation of Azersky is expected to exceed $200 million within the next decade.

Organizations from 13 countries, including Azerbaijan, the Baltic, Central Asia and Eastern Europe countries, use images of Azersky for the needs of cartography, agriculture, ecology, land use and monitoring.

In addition, Azercosmos launched the new satellite Azerspace-2 on September 25, 2018, from ELA-3 platform in Guiana Space Center located in French Guiana. Its service area covers the countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The satellite reached its test orbit on December 18, 2018. The new satellite allowed Azercosmos to serve customers from the U.S., the UAE and Tanzania.

This year, Azercosmos started commercial exploitation of the resources of Azerspace-2. The projected revenue for the current year from the commercial sale of the satellite resources is $16.5 million. The lifetime of the satellite in orbit is 20 years.

The new satellite will not only expand the range of services and geography of activities of Azercosmos, but will also act as a reserve for the first telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1. In addition, the second satellite will make it possible to take part in big international tenders, which was not possible earlier.

Azerspace-2 satellite worth $190 million is expected to bring $400 million in revenue to the country's economy.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/185914.html

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