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Arianspace starts production of rocket carrier to launch Azerbaijani satellite into orbitDec 11, 2010 (Trend News Agency - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- French company Arianspace has started to manufacture rocket carrier Ariane 5 ECA, which will launch the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azercpace into orbit, Chief Adviser of the Ministry's Telecommunication Department, Gulam Abdullayev, has told Trend. According to him, the main advantage of the rocket carrier Ariane 5 ECA is its ability to deliver payload with weight of 10 tons into the orbit. "Unlike other rocket carriers Ariane 5 ECA is able to launch into orbit two satellites at once," Abdullayev said. The Azerspace satellite, whose mass will be more than three tons, will be launched from Guiana Space Center, which is located in the northeast of South America in French Guiana. The cost of launch will be $ 93 million. Low weight of cargo to be delivered into orbit, will allow the Azerbaijani side to save on insurance services of several million dollars. Azerspace's manufacturer is American company Orbital Sciences Corporation. An orbital position for Azerspace has been leased from the Malaysian MEASAT satellite operator. Azerspace is designed to provide digital broadcasting, Internet access, data transmission, VSAT multi-service networks, and governmental communications. The company, which will deal with the 100-percent insurance of the satellite, will be determined in the near future. Works on the production of the satellite will be completed in September 2012. The launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012. Azerbaijan will start to provide services to the global space market from January 2013. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected] To see more of the Trend News Agency, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://en.trend.az/. Copyright (c) 2010, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |