Bangladesh's first satellite 'Bangabandhu-1' launches on May 4

After a couple of rescheduling, Bangladesh's first commercial satellite Bangabandhu-1 will be flying to space on May 4.

The satellite will be launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmud said on Wednesday.

Private space flight and technology company SpaceX has confirmed the launch date for Bangladesh’s first satellite, bdnews24.com reported quoting Shahjahan.

The launching schedule of the country's lone satellite has earlier been deferred several times.

SpaceX had previously planned to launch the satellite using Falcon-9 rockets on Dec 16 of last year, but the launch was postponed due to damage from Hurricane Irma.

It takes two months to prepare the pad for launching any satellite out of the SpaceX facility in Florida.

The ‘Bangabandhu’ Satellite received the green light at a cabinet meeting in 2015. BTRC signed a loan deal worth Tk 20 billion with Thales Group to buy 'satellite systems.'

It signed a Tk 4 billion loan deal with HSBC in September last year to send the satellite into the orbit.

According to a UNB report, the Bangabandhu Satellite with a capacity of 1,600 megahertz will have 40 transponders and the physical equipment of the space capsule that measures the capacity. It is expected to save Tk 14 million a year that is currently spent on renting foreign satellites.

The satellite will contain 40 transponders; Bangladesh will use 20 and rent out the rest.

The two ground stations that will control the satellite will be built at Gazipur's Joydebpur and Rangamati's Betbunia on the land owned by Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd.

The ground stations for the satellite have been built at Gazipur’s Joydebpur and Rangamati’s Betbunia.