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BANGABANDHU SATELLITE- 1
“Morning shows the day” the famous English saying is rightfully evaluated by
Bangladesh, a newly born country located at South East Asia. Bangladesh has
shown great promises since its liberation in 1971 from Pakistan. Following its own
footsteps now Bangladesh has entered into the space to show how potential this
country is. It is a very historical and exciting moment for the entire nation of
Bangladesh to watch its very first satellite taking off for Space successfully. This
telecommunications and Broadcasting satellite is targeted to 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.
The Satellite itself:
The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is the first Bangladeshi geostationary
communications and broadcasting satellite. It was manufactured by Thales Alenia
Space and launched on May 11, 2018. The project is being implemented by
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and was the first
payload launched by a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket of SpaceX.
Fig. 1: Falcon 9 rocket launching with Bangabandhu Satellite- 1
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The great launching event:
The satellite was originally stated to launch May 10, 2018. However, the rocket
carrying the payload triggered an automatic abort as it entered internal power and
control at T-58 seconds. Soon after the rocket launch was pushed back 24 hours
and it was finally launched on May 11, 2018. Bangabandhu- 1 launched from
Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, USA. The historic event took
place at 2:14am Bangladesh time when the country's first geostationary
communication satellite started its voyage towards orbit. After launching the
satellite Bangladesh began to receive test signal from it on May 12, 2018.
Fig. 2: The Launching event.
Behind the scene:
The Bangabandhu-1 satellite was initially planned to be launched on an Ariane
5 rocket on 11 December 2017 to celebrate Victory day of Bangladesh. Following
the lack of firm guarantee from Arianespace for that date BTRC chose Falcon 9
launch vehicle instead. It is named after the father of the nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The total cost of the satellite was projected to be 248
million US dollars in 2015 (Tk 19.51 billion) financed via a $188.7 million loan
from HSBC Holdings plc. Bangabandhu Satellite-1 carries a total of 40 Ku-
band and C-band transponders with a capacity of 1600 megahertz and a predicted
life span to exceed 15 years.
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Location of the Satellite:
The satellite is expected to be located at the 119.1° East longitude geostationary
slot. The satellite will expand Ku-band coverage over all of Bangladesh and its
nearby waters including the Bay of Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the
Philippines, and Indonesia. This is coupled with C-band coverage for all
aforementioned areas.
Fig. 3: Location of the Bangabandhu Satellite- 1.
Ground Control System:
Bangabandhu Satellite- 1 utilizes ground control stations built by Thales Alenia
Space with its partner Spectra in Betbuni, and Gazipur. The satellite is based on the
highly secured and reliable Spacebus-4000B2 platform. Bangladesh Government
formed a Government owned Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company
Limited (BCSCL) with the aim to operate the Bangabandhu Satellite-1.
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Communication capabilities of BD-1 satellite:
The BD-1 satellite will be fitted with 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders.
The major applications of the spacecraft include DTH, very small aperture terminal
(VSAT) communications, backhaul and trunking, network restoration, and disaster
preparedness and relief.
The primary service area (PSA) of the satellite will be Bangladesh and
neighbouring countries, while its secondary service areas (SSA) will include South
East Asia, Europe, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as well as East Africa.
Prospects and Challenges of the Satellite:
The launch of satellite Bangabandhu- 1 by Bangladesh brings both prospects and
challenges as it is expected to help the country save foreign currency while the
challenges remain in effectively running the venture, experts.
BTRC officials have confirmed that the expenses of the satellite would return
within seven years of its service as it would provide service for television channels,
mobile phone companies, TV service providers, internet connectivity in remote
areas and for weather forecast. Besides foreign currencies could be earned by
selling capacity of the satellite’s transponder to other countries along with saving
foreign currencies spent by the countrie’s TV channels for hiring satellite
transponders from others. As per the government estimation the country would be
able to earn $1 billion in 15 years by leasing out transponders and another $1.5
billion by selling other services to different countries.
Experts however assumes that making the project profitable would not be that
much easy considering the existing structure of the company, Bangladesh
Communication Satellite Company Limited, formed to operate the satellite.
How will Bangladesh be benefited by the Bangabandhu satellite?
This satellite will bring enormous development and uninterrupted
telecommunication system in Bngladesh especially in Television, Telephone &
Internet service which Bangladesh usually purchases from from overseas.
At present Bangladesh is spending annually more than $14 million on satellite rent
to ensure connectivity of TV, radio, telephone and internet. So this satellite will
make Bangladesh self contained & Bangladesh will also earn some foreign
currency by broadcasting service.
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India & Pakistan have their own satellites, Sri lanka is in queue. So Bangladesh
rent service to Nepal, Myanmar or Bhutan and may earn more than $50 million per
year.
Finally communication system of Bangladesh will get new progression of
development. This satellite will give Bangladesh a long term service to a large
scalability, global availability, reliability, versatility & super performance.
Some sectors like telemedicine, e- learning, e- researches, video conference,
defence & disaster management system will be improves for this satellite in
Bangladesh.