TODAY.AZ / Business

AzerSky program’s cost revealed

19 February 2015 [17:01] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan has revealed the price of its second satellite program.

Investment in the second satellite program of the low-orbital satellite AzerSky will total 157 million euros in Azerbaijan, said Ali Abbasov, Communications and High Technologies Minister.

Fifteen percent of the funding will be provided by the state, and the rest will come from the attracted credits.

"The project has a high profitability and investment payback period is 5-7 years. The satellite has started its operation since January 1, 2015. The services it provides are available to foreign countries. A service contract worth around 20 million euros has already been signed for the current year," the minister said.

The control of SPOT 7 Satellite called Azersky was transferred to Azerbaijan on the basis of an agreement signed on December 2 during an exhibition called Bakutel-2014 held jointly by Azerbaijan’s space agency Azercosmos and French company Airbus Defence and Space.

The spacecraft was launched in the framework of a strategic cooperation in the space industry between Azerbaijan and France.

Azersky, along with its predecessor SPOT 6, is used by both sides. Each of these satellites is capable of daily surveying an Earth's surface area up to three million square kilometers. Resolution of the obtained images is 1.5 meters.

The remote-sensing satellite SPOT 6 was launched in September 2012, and SPOT-7 – in June 2014.

The launch of the SPOT-7 satellite is an important step in the implementation of an agreement on strategic cooperation with Azercosmos, which involves widening opportunities in the field of geo-information.

Azerbaijan became a member of the space club by launching its own satellite into orbit in February 2013.

Azerspace-1 telecommunication satellite covers Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North Africa. Baku is expected to earn $500-600 million by operating the satellite.

The second satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2017. The Airbus Defence and Space is also expected to take part in a tender for the construction of the second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan - "Azerspace-2."

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/138808.html

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