STRENGTHENING ORBITAL POSITIONS

Azerbaijan has been a confident member of the 'global space club' for five years. Following the success of telecommunication satellites Azerspace-1 and Azersky, it has recently launched the third satellite, Azerspace-2. Thus, Azerbaijan’s first and only satellite operator Azercosmos has expanded its potential in terms of providing high-quality telecommunications and geographic intelligence services.

Telecommunication independence

The third Azerbaijani satellite Azerspace-2 was successfully launched into the Earth's orbit on September 25-26 at 01.35 Baku time, when the Ariane 5 launch vehicle left the Spaceport ELA-3 in French Guiana. The flight was broadcast on Arianespace’s official Youtube channel and other Azerbaijani and foreign websites. It was an anniversary 100^th flight of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, this time with a double load, satellites Horizons 3e and Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38.

The Japanese Horizons 3e was launched first, 28 minutes after takeoff. It is also an important spacecraft, which will provide communication services for aviation and maritime mobility, fixed and wireless operators, as well as mobile and government customers.

14 minutes after Horizons 3e, Space Systems Loral, a subsidiary of Canadian corporation MDA, and its contractor Maxar Technologies launched the second geostationary satellite of Azerbaijan, Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38. On the 42^nd minute of flight, both satellites successfully entered the geostationary orbit.

In his congratulatory video message to the Azerbaijani people, President Ilham Aliyev noted that this was another victory of our country, which is dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its independence.

“Over the past five years, Azerbaijan has placed three satellites into the orbit. Today, Azerbaijan is a member of the 'global space club' and is strengthening its position in the global space industry,” Mr. Aliyev said. He also noted that this was an important step to improve the information security of the country, since it made possible to ensure uninterrupted broadcast of Azerbaijani television channels to most countries of the world. In other words, Azerbaijan has completely eliminated its dependence on foreign partners in telecommunications.

"Simultaneously, through the observation satellite Azersky, we can regularly monitor all events in any point of the world. The Azersky satellite has a special role in strengthening the defense and military potential of Azerbaijan,” President Aliyev said. He added that the Azersky will play a special role in the development of agriculture, environmental monitoring, rational use of land, etc.

More profitable and cost-effective

According to official information, the new satellite will expand the range of services and geographical coverage of Azercosmos, and will provide a backup functionality for the first telecommunications satellite, Azerspace-1. Azercosmos now will be able to participate in large-scale international tenders, an ability it could not afford due to the lack of a backup satellite. Azerspace-2 will strengthen the positions and offers of Azercosmos in the highly competitive international market of satellite services.

Even before the launch of Azerspace-2, 46% of its services were sold to the world's leading satellite services company Intelsat. The Intelsat payments will compensate 60% of project and financial costs associated with the launch of Azerspace-2. Currently, Azercosmos is negotiating with other countries to sell the remaining 54% of Azerspace-2 services. According to forecasts, the Azerspace-2 (total cost: $190 million) will bring $400 million to the national economy.

By the way, the objectives of the first and second geostationary telecommunication satellites of Azerbaijan are different. Thus, Azerspace / Africasat-1a was launched by Arianespace into the geostationary orbit at 46 degrees East longitude to provide digital broadcasting services, the Internet access, data transmission, multiservice VSAT networks, as well as government communications. The second satellite was placed to the geostationary orbit at 45 degrees East longitude for the provision of satellite broadcasting services DTH (Direct-to-Home).

In other words, thanks to Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38 Azercosmos will be able to meet the growing demand for DTH satellite broadcasting services in Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. In turn, the Luxembourg office of Intelsat will receive continuous service from the orbital position at 45 degrees to deliver DTH services to Central and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, and to provide communication services to Africa.

The buyers of Azersomos' services are mainly foreign companies, since Azercosmos is an export-oriented company. 80% of revenues from Azerspace-1 and 98% from Azersky (both operated by Azercosmos) come from the foreign markets. Today Azerscosmos has a stable clientele, which includes more than 100 private and state-owned companies from almost 25 countries. Such media giants as Reuters, MTV, and National Geographic choose Azercosmos as a reliable business partner.

Azerspace-1 provides 80% of its resources ($233 million) for commercial operations. Over the past five years of continuous operation of both satellites, Azerbaijan received $80 million of income, and in subsequent years the volume of forecasted incomes will reach $220 million.

Azersky, which mainly provides services to Azerbaijan's defense and security spheres, also has considerable commercial potential. Along with Azerbaijan, France, Moldova, Latvia, Estonia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and other countries actively use its services. Since day one of operations, Azersky (157 million euros) has brought $24 million to the national economy.

In the near future, Azercosmos plans to implement a business acceleration program, which involves identifying new ideas and start-up businesses in the field of space services and related areas to support them commercially. So, we will soon witness that space services can become a stable and very profitable source of income for the state budget.

FOR REFERENCE

There are over 1200 spacecraft rotating in different orbits around the Earth. Each of them serve for a particular mission. Some of them are used for reconnaissance purposes, others for the provision of satellite television and communications services, satellite navigation systems GPS (Global Positioning System), etc. They are also used to monitor the Earth in real time, for research, to determine the zones of increased gravity, annual rise of sea level, control of solar flares, to ensure national security - a problem of primary importance for any state. Almost half of the satellites currently rotating around the Earth belong to the US, followed by Russia and China.