Bangabandhu-1 Satellite

Introduction:

"Bangladesh entered a new era as a proud member of the satellite club

from today as the flag of Bangladesh has also been hoisted in the space
through launching of the Bangabandhu-1 Satellite."
---Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a televised message after the
launch of the Bangabandhu-1 Sattelite.

The launch made Bangladesh the 57th nation in the world and fourth in
South Asia after India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to own a satellite. On 14
June 1975 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated the country's
first space mission by inaugurating the country's first land satellite station at
Betbuniya. Finally, on November 11, 2015, Bangladesh signed the
agreement with France's Thales Alenya Space for the construction of the
first land-based artificial satellite "Bangabandhu-1". Later on, May 12, 2018,
after the successful launch of the Sattelite at 2:14 am Bangladesh gets its
place in the Elite Society of the satellite-owned countries. In this context
Tarana Halim said, "The daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman led the country to victory in the space after conquerd the sea.
Nobody will be able to stop Bangabandhu's Bangladesh”. After 10 days of
launch, the satellite reached its orbit on 21 May. Ground station sources
established at Betbuniya of Rangamati confirmed the matter. The satellite
started sending partial signals from May 22. Bangabandhu-1 was
implemented by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission (BTRC) under the postal and telecommunications ministry and
for the overall management there is the new organization "Bangladesh
Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL)" formed in 2017.

What is a Sattelite?

A satellite is an object that moves around a larger object. Earth is a satellite

because it moves around the sun. The moon is a satellite because it moves
around Earth. Earth and the moon are called "natural" satellites. But usually
when someone says "satellite," they are talking about a "man-made"
satellite. Man-made satellites are machines made by people. These
machines are launched into space and orbit Earth or another body in
space. There are thousands of man-made satellites. Some take pictures of
our planet. Some take pictures of other planets, the sun and other objects.
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These pictures help scientists learn about Earth, the solar system and the
universe. Other satellites send TV signals and phone calls around the
world. Satellites fly high in the sky, so they can see large areas of Earth at
one time. Satellites also have a clear view of space. That's because they fly
above Earth's clouds and air. Before satellites, TV signals didn't go very far.
TV signals only travel in straight lines. So they would go off into space
instead of following Earth's curve. Sometimes they would be blocked by
mountains or tall buildings. Phone calls to faraway places were also a
problem. It costs a lot and it is hard to set up telephone wires over long
distances or underwater. With satellites, TV signals and phone calls can be
sent up to a satellite. The satellite can then send them back down to
different spots on Earth.

Currently, more than half of the satellites in the space are owned by United
States, they have 2137 satellites. 10 countries utilized their own technology
to build satellites and they are USA, UK, Russia, China, France, Japan,
North Korea, India, Iran and Israel.

History of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite:

The first attempt to own a satellite in Bangladesh started in 2007. At that

time Bangladesh requested the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU), an agency under the United Nations to give an orbit in the space of
102 degrees east longitude. But 20 countries objected to the petition of
Bangladesh. In 2008, the regulatory body of telecommunications sector in
Bangladesh formed a committee for the construction of artificial satellite.
Then, in 2009, the National Information Technology Policy was introduced
to launch a state-of-the-art satellite. Bangladesh introduces electronic
application to International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for launching its
own satellite. In March 2012, the US-based organization 'Space
Partnership International' was appointed to design the satellite system.
BTRC has signed an agreement with French company Thales Alenya
Space to buy satellite system with a total of 1,951 crore 75 lakh 34
thousand taka. In 2015, BTRC formally signed a contract for the purchase
of orbital slot from Russia's space communications organization
“Intersputnik”. In 2017 an organization called 'Bangladesh Communication
Satellite Company Limited' was formed for the overall management of the
satellite. The initial capital of this organization was approved five thousand
crores taka.

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Brief description of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite:

The satellite was named after the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangabandhu-1 satellite carries a total of 40
transponders (26 KU-band and 14 C-band transponders) with a capacity of
1600 MHz. In the outer section of the satellite the red-green flag of
Bangladesh is painted and on the flag there is written “Bangabandhu-1” in
English and Bangla. There is also a monogram of the government of
Bangladesh. The Bangabandhu-1 satellite weighs 3,500 kg and it is a Geo
Stationary satellite.

Construction and financing of the Satellite:

In September 2014, an ECNEC meeting sanctioned 2968 crores tk for the

transmission and telecommunication services in the country through the
launching of artificial satellite. In this amount, the government's own fund
was allocated 1315.51 crores tk, which is 44 percent of the total
expenditure. In addition to this, a plan to collect 1652 crores 44 lakhs taka
for the project through Bidder's financing. In September of 2016, Hong
Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) signed a loan agreement with
the government to provide 1400 crores taka. It will be paid in 20
installments in 12 years with a 1.51 percent interest rate.
The original structure of "Bangabandhu-1" satellite has been created by
France's Thales Alenya Space. Its construction work is completed on
March 30, 2018. After construction, testing, review and transfer a special
cargo plane was sent to the Cape Canaveral Launch site in Florida.

Design and development of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite:

Thales Alenia Space was selected as prime contractor to provide turnkey

systems, including design, production, testing services for the
Bangabandhu-1 satellite, in November 2015. The scope of the contract
also includes the development of ground segment.The satellite’s
communications module integration work is carried out at Thales Alenia
Space plant located at Toulouse in France. The critical design review
(CDR) of the satellite was completed in January 2017. The service module
for the satellite is manufactured at Cannes in France.Thales Alenia Space
Belgium, Thales Alenia Space Italia and Thales Alenia Space España are
also involved in the development of this satellite and the ground
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components.The sattelite based on Spacebus 4000B2 platform and have a
launch mass of 3,500 kg. It will include two deployable solar arrays with
batteries. The spacecraft will have a designed lifespan of 15 years.

Orbit and Footprint of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite:

The orbital slot is bought from “Intersputnik”, the satellite

telecommunications networks of Russia for launching the satellite and
keeping it in orbit. In space the location of orbit is 119.1° east longitude.
Based on the agreement made in January 2015, this orbit is purchased for
15 years at approximately 219 crores taka. After 15 years, Bangladesh will
be able to renew the contract for the next 15 years. Bangladesh is located
86-91 degrees east longitude. In this regard, Bangladesh supposed to get
orbit in this position. But there are four satellites, including two of Russia's
in 88-91 degrees east longitude line. So the place here is not possible to be
taken. But despite the vacancy of 86-88 degrees, the space agency ITU did
not give slot to Bangladesh. Bangladesh tried to get a slot of 102 degrees.
There are several countries including Russia, Australia and France
objected. Their objection was that the Bangabandhu-1 satellite will obstruct
their broadcast. Later Bangladesh tried it at 69 degrees. There were also
similar objections from China, Singapore, Malaysia and several other
countries. Finally, Bangladesh gets 119.1 degree east longitude line. The
footprint of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite will extend from Indonesia to
Tajikistan. Under the KY band Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka, Philippine and Indonesia region includes along with its water
resources in the Bay of Bengal. All these areas will be covered under the C
band also.

Ground station of the Satellite:

The satellite will be controlled by two ground stations, which will be used for
primary and back-up site operations and control centres. Thales Alenia
Space provided tools for the ground segment for the mission planning and
space operations monitoring. It also build two ground facility buildings,
which will house satellite control and network operations centre. “Spectra
Engineers” was contracted to execute civil works of the ground facilities.
Ground Station of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite has been set up in Joydebpur
of Gazipur and Betbuniya of Rangamati.

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Meanwhile, the primary station of Bangabandhu-1 satellite has established
in the adjacent area of “Telecommunication Staff College” at Teliapara in
Gazipur which is fully prepared. This is the main control center while,
Rangamati Ground Station is an alternative to station at Gazipur.

Launching of satellite:

Bangabandhu-1 satellite launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida,

USA on May 12, 2018, at 2:14 am. The private aerospace research
company “Space X” conducted the launch of the satellite. The satellite is
fired using the new block-5 model of Space-X's Falcon-9 rocket and
Payload. Earlier it was attempted to launch at 4:02 pm (Bangladesh time)
on the last 10th of May, but due to technical error it was canceled at the
last moment.

In-Orbit Test (IOT):

After 10 days of launching, the satellite reached its orbit on 21 May. Ground
station sources established at Betbunya of Rangamati confirmed the
matter. On May 22, the satellite started sending partial signals. After the
Bangabandhu-1 satellite reached the orbit it’s In Orbit Test (IOT) was
started. According to the rules, this test have to conducted for about three
weeks. Bangabandhu-1 satellite project director Mesbahuzzaman said, "All
the news till now is going on as per the plan. Only after completing IOT the
control of satellite will handed over at Gazipur ground station."

Bangabandhu-1 satellite offers opportunities:

Bangabandhu-1 satellite is to establish Bangladesh's own stake on the

space opening up enormous opportunities providing several advantages
involving fields of field of information and communication technology (ICT)
and broadcasting industry alongside brightening Bangladesh image,
reports BSS.

1. Experts and officials said the country's first geostationary communication

satellite will firstly help expansion of internet and telecommunication
services in remote and rugged areas which still remained beyond the
coverage. The satellite would expand the country's capacity in weather
forecasting and monitoring to face natural disasters from its location at the

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119.1 east geostationary slot, covering as well all the SAARC countries and
Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkestan and a part of Kazakhstan.

2. In the event of unexpected disasters Bangladesh’s existing

telecommunication systems may collapse when satellite network can play
an important role in ensuring uninterrupted telecommunication services
throughout the country.

3. Bangladesh could earn a huge foreign currency by selling satellite’s

transponder to other countries while it now needs to spend a huge amount
of money for the service from others satellite specially for the broadcasting
industry. The experts said, moreover, Bangabandhu-I would appear as a
crucial tool in ensuring further the national security. The launching of the
satellite earned Bangladesh the status of being a member of the satellite
owning nations as the 57th country.

4. Currently over 30 Satellite TV channels are in operation in Bangladesh

using rented satellite services from Singapore and other countries that cost
about $14 million annually. Once launched, the Bangabandhu-I satellite will
save the foreign currency expenditure while the channels huge viewership
particularly in the Middle East countries are expected to be its main
commercial user.

5. On the other hand, Bangladesh could earn foreign currency by renting

the Bangabandhu-1 transponders to other countries while officials said out
of its 40 transponders, 20 were kept for rent. Officials said the newly
formed Bangabandhu Satellite Communication Company Limited (BSCCL)
already began negotiations with Indonesia and the Philippines for renting
out the transponders.

6. Internet bandwidth is another product of Bangabandhu-I while BTRC

said out of the satellite’s 40 transponders having a total 1,600 MHz
frequency while 26 of them in KU band and 14 in C-band. The Bangladeshi
satellite TV stations earlier feared the Bangabandhu-1’s location might
create some difficulties for their transmission but regulatory BTRC
chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told, they would collaborate with other
satellites to solve issue easily. Currently, all private TV channels in
Bangladesh use Apstar-7 satellite, which is at 76.5 degrees east. Only

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government-owned BTV uses Asiasat-7, another satellite, which is at 105.5
degrees east.

7. The Direct-to-Home (DTH) as alternative of cable television service

providers will be another major consumer of the satellite. DTH services
always provide faster access to worldwide television entertainment and
now they will have an easier and faster access to global TV entertainments
through Bangabandhu-1.

8. The satellite will make video distribution easier as well enabling

broadcasters to effortlessly distribute their content to intermediaries like
cable TV network operators or re-broadcasters like DTH operators. The
satellite will have VSAT private networks consisting of voice, data, video
and internet services to the banks, corporate offices etc.

Limitations and Over expectations from Bangabandhu-1 sattelite:

There are also some concerns about the Bangabandhu-1 satellite which
has been thought in recent times. Some limitations, over expectations and
concerns about satellite are discussed below :
1. How accurately the satellite located at 119.1 degree will cover the area
that located at 90.4 degree?

If it was possible to cover perfectly by a satellite at any position in the

space, why would every country eager to lounch their satellite at its own
axis?

If they do not have any problems, why they objected to Bangladesh?

Finally, why did the ITU refused Bangladesh to allocate 86°-88° orbital slot
even after that slot were empty?

Whatever the answers, they certainly will not be favorable to Bangladesh.

2. It is not certain that all of the channels or private companies of

Bangladesh are willing to accept service from our own satellite. Because,
they will not want to compromise with the quality of service.

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3. The government is dreaming of earning 50 million dollars by serveing
other country through Bangabandhu-1 satellite. Their primary targets are
Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Arab and Southeast Asia. It is a ridiculous
argument that Nepal and Bhutan will take service from us excluding India.
To make the argument more ridiculous, the number of satellites of different
countries in Asia can be considered.

Country /Organizations Number of Satellites

Indonesia 13
Japan 197
Malaisia 9
Pakistan 3
Philippines 2
Taiwan 9
UAE 7
Vietnam 5
Singapur 4
Thailand 8
KSA 13
South Korea 18
Kazakhstan 5
Turkey 10
Iran 5
Turkmenistan 1
Arab States Communication Organization 13
Asia Satellite Telecom Company 7
(References: ISRO)

4. It is claimed that every types of satellite related task will be accomplished

by Bangabandhu-1 , which is not possible. For example if I consider India,
34 of its 84 satellites are used for telecommunications purpose only. The
rest of their satellites are for Earth observations, Navy or Space Science
purposes. The work of only one satellite out of 84 has been shown in
Communications and Weather Monitoring purposes only.

5. The government did not tell how its own financing will manage 1300
crores taka. If this money is loaned, the interest will be less than 70 crore
annually. Bangladesh's foreign debt is usually up to 30 years. Then upto 30
years interest will be tk.2100 crores with the rent that have to paid to

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intersputnik 15 crores a year. It will be tk.85 crore annually in interest and
rent. Lion share of the profit from the satellite will be consumed by interest
and rent purposes.

6. A satellite may have been broken or derailed into space. We do not

have the resources to recover it, and if such unfortunate incident occurs, it
will require crores of money to repair.

7. The Satellite maintaining work has been given to a foreign company.

There is a lot of incidents of looting or destruction of the country's
resources by foreign companies. On June 24, 2005, Tengratila gas burned
worth millions of dollars. No case has been filed on that issue yet. There is
no guarantee that Thales Alenia Space does not do anything like this, or if
they do so nothing can be done against them.

Conclusions:

If the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who termed

Bangladesh as a "Bottomless Basket" is informed about Bangladesh's own
satellite, perhaps he would be ashamed of his statement .It is needless to
say that it will brighten our image abroad. It should be kept in mind that,
satellite launching or it’s reaching to the orbital is not the last word, we
must continue our diplomatic efforts so that we can get the highest output
from satellite that sent at a cost of around 3 billions taka. Our government
should continue diplomatic negotiation with our target countries or
organizations which are interested in buying satellite bandwidths. Only
then the purpose of satellite will be fullfilled which made by the money
earned by the blood of the common people of our country and we will go a
step further in the formation of Digital Bangladesh.

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Key points:
Introduction
What is a Sattelite?
History of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite
Brief description of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite
Construction and financing of the Satellite
Design and development of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite
Orbit and Footprint of Bangabandhu-1 Satellite
Ground station of the Satellite
Launching of satellite
In-Orbit Test (IOT)
Bangabandhu-1 satellite offers opportunities
Limitations and Over expectations from Bangabandhu-1 Sattelite
Conclusions

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