Cannes, November 11, 2015 - Thales Alenia Space announced today that it has signed a contract with BTRC, (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) to build the telecommunications satellite, Bangabandhu, winning the contract against an international field of competitors. This satellite will narrow the digital divide, as it will take broadcasting and telecommunication services to rural areas and introduce profitable services, including direct-to-home services, across the country and over the region.As program prime contractor of this turnkey system, Thales Alenia Space is in charge of the design, production, testing and the delivery in orbit of the satellite.This satellite is based on the flight proven heritage of Thales Alenia Space with 81 Spacebus already ordered and more than 600 cumulated years in orbit. Built on the upgraded Spacebus 4000B2 platform, Bangabandhu will be fitted with 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders. The satellite’s coverage zone encompasses the Bangladesh and the surrounding region. This system will offer capacity in Ku-Band over Bangladesh and its territorial waters of the Bay of Bengal, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia; it will also provide capacity in C-Band over the whole region.Thales Alenia Space will also take charge of the ground segment, which will benefit of the SpaceOps Thales Alenia Space tools for the mission planning and monitoring. It includes two ground facility buildings gathering Satellite Control and Network Operations Center based on the SpaceGate Thales Alenia Space global solution. Spectra Engineers Ltd., Thales partner in Bangladesh, is in charge of the civil work of the ground facilities.To be launched in 2017, this Bangladesh's first satellite will be positioned at 119.1° East longitude.“Thales Alenia Space is proud to have been selected by the BTRC for the first iconic Bangladeshi Telecom satellite. This satellite identified with the famous Nation's father name, Bangabandhu, is a key milestones for the Bangladesh country telecommunication development and a fantastic support to the national economy growth and Asian region recognition. Thales Alenia Space is honored to be associated to this great expansion plan”, said Jean Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space."The contract for this telecommunications satellite signed with Thales Alenia Space, the key European player in space telecommunication, marks a major turning point in the history of Bangladesh, not only reducing the digital divide, but also generating business development and creating jobs," said Md Golam Razzaque, Bangabandhu Project Director of BTRC. "We hope to carry out the launch on the 46th anniversary of our country's Victory Day, which will be on December 16th , 2017 ”.
The contract, valued at $248 million, includes the construction of the 3,500-kilogram Bangabandhu-1, its launch — likely aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket — and the associated ground segment including satellite control and network operations centers. Loan guarantees have been provided by the French export credit agency, Coface....Bangladesh has had difficulty securing an orbital slot for its satellite and ultimately purchased rights to 119.1 degrees east from the international Intersputnik organization of Moscow. The 15-year, renewable lease is valued at about $27.5 million and was concluded in January.
Thales: Bangladesh Bangabandhu Ku-/C-band sat CDR OK, payload/platform mating in March. Thales-ordered SpaceX launch Dec 2017 [tight sched].
Faith in @SpaceX sched: Bangladeshi PM Hasina, right, shows model of @Thales_Alenia_S-built Bangabandhu-1 telecom sat & affirms Dec launch.
Bangabandhu satellite to go commercial in June next year, says TaranaThe commercial operation of Bangabandhu satellite will start in June next year after the launch in December this year, State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim has said.She spoke at a press conference on the progress of the launch at the secretariat on Monday.“We are certain that the launch will take place in the first or last week of December. It will be able to start the commercial operation in June, 2018,” she said. She said in case of any problem the launch might be deferred to January. “There will be no problem if the weather remains calm in Florida in the US in December.”The satellite will have 40 transponders. Bangladesh will use 20 of those for its own and the rest will be rented. The government hopes to save $14 million annually on rent the country is now paying to foreign satellites.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to share the joy of sending Bangladesh’s first satellite into space with people through video conferencing from her residence, the Ganabhaban, Tarana said.The final countdown will begin in Bangladesh a week before the launch which will be broadcast live, she said.The December schedule for the launch using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was announced earlier.State Minister Tarana recently visited the facility of Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space in France where the satellite is being built.Tarana said some tests on initial performance, vacuum, final performance, and final preparation would be conducted before the launch.“They (Thales Alenia Space) said it would be possible to finish the end-to-end test in the first week of December,” she added.
Bangabandhu satellite ground station at final stage, says State Minister Tarana Shamim Ahamed from Gazipur, bdnews24.comPublished: 2017-07-15 23:59:11.0 BdST Updated: 2017-07-15 23:59:11.0 BdSTPrevious NextThe construction of the ground station for Bangladesh's first satellite is at the final stage, State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim has said.After visiting the ground station site in Gazipur's Joydebpur on Saturday, she told reporters that the work would end in September."With the installations of two antennas weighing 10 tonnes, the work is 95 percent complete," Tarana said.The state minister said there would be six alternative power supply modes at the station.The station would have a trial run in November before the final blast in December, she added.Tarana also hoped the commercial operation of the satellite, named Bangabandhu - 1, would start in April next year.Shafiq Ahmed Chaudhuri, a representative of US-based Space Partnership International or SPI, said 105 people would be needed to run the ground station.SPI is the consulting firm for the project's market evaluation, training and ground station management.Project Director Mohammad Mesbahuzzaman said the work to set up another ground station as a backup in Rangamati's Betbunia was also at the final stage.The satellite will have 40 transponders. Bangladesh will use 20 of those for its own, and the rest will be rented. The government hopes to save $14 million annually on rent the country is now paying to foreign satellites.The final countdown will begin in Bangladesh a week before the launch which will be broadcast live.The December schedule for the launch using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was announced earlier.State Minister Tarana recently visited the facility of Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space in France where the satellite is being built.
Bangabandhu launch now planned for March 2018(source)
Now completed, the satellite will leave Cannes in February for a launch in March in Florida on a Falcon 9 launcher
This launch was supposed to take place in December 2017. Another customer deadline missed by SpaceX.
SpaceX is still months behind on their commercial payloads, just like they've been for the last year, and that delay won't go away until at least late 2018. None of that is new or surprising information considering they had two vehicle failures that slowed down their progress right before a huge number of contracts were starting to come due in the late 2016 to mid-2018 time period.
Quote from: gongora on 11/26/2017 04:31 pmSpaceX is still months behind on their commercial payloads, just like they've been for the last year, and that delay won't go away until at least late 2018. None of that is new or surprising information considering they had two vehicle failures that slowed down their progress right before a huge number of contracts were starting to come due in the late 2016 to mid-2018 time period.I’d think there biggest delay at the moment will be the Zuma payload, especially as its high priority means that all other payloads will have to wait in the queue behind it until it’s launched.
Quote from: Star One on 11/26/2017 05:55 pmQuote from: gongora on 11/26/2017 04:31 pmSpaceX is still months behind on their commercial payloads, just like they've been for the last year, and that delay won't go away until at least late 2018. None of that is new or surprising information considering they had two vehicle failures that slowed down their progress right before a huge number of contracts were starting to come due in the late 2016 to mid-2018 time period.I’d think there biggest delay at the moment will be the Zuma payload, especially as its high priority means that all other payloads will have to wait in the queue behind it until it’s launched.If there is a problem with the fairings all other payloads (except CRS) will be waiting for the same reason as Zuma, regardless of priority.
Bangladesh requested this launch to be performed by 16th December 2017 (their independence Day) .
The launch of Bangladesh's first commercial satellite Bangabandhu-1 has been pushed to March, although its construction has been completed by the French manufacturer, owing to the packed schedule of the US launching station....Mahmood said a precise date has not been set yet but the probable launch could take place in March as per Thales's information.A top official of the Bangabandhu Satellite Launch Project, requesting anonymity, said there is a 95 percent chance that the launch would be carried out by March. If the date is missed, it would certainly be launched by the second week of April....“The US firm has a very busy launching schedule. We asked SpaceX to use a new rocket to launch the satellite. It takes time to manage everything,” said the BTRC chief.