Azerbaijan’s first communications satellite launch project is on the move

The winner of the tender for determining launch vehicle producer within the framework of Azerbaijan’s first communications satellite launch project will be known in the second half of this year.

Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said that the launch vehicle producing company will be determined three months after the contract is signed with the main producing company.

According to Abbasov, the main criterion in choosing the company will be the reliability of the launch vehicle.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies invited Russia’s State Enterprise named after Khrunichev, which produces Proton launch vehicle, Ukraine’s Yujnoe commercial organization, which produces Zenit launch vehicle, and European Space Agency, which produces Ariane launch vehicle, to participate in the tender.

According to the international experts, taking into account that Azerbaijani satellite has been prepared in the same module with the Orbital-built Intelsat 15 communications satellite, which was launched aboard a Land Launch Zenit rocket from Baikonur, Russian and Ukrainian companies will struggle seriously to win the tender. They also say Zenit is a lighter, cheaper, but a less reliable variant. Moreover, it is noted that deficiency of launch vehicles has been observed in Yujnoe company recently. As regards, Ariane, experts consider that in this case the question will be a joint launch and one of the producers will have to wait.


/APA/