Three companies eye Azerbaijan national communications satellite project

[BGonaSTICK]

The Communications and Information Technologies Ministry of Azerbaijan says that Intelsat, Eutelsat and Intersputnik are taking interest in Azersat project aimed to orbiting a national communications satellite of Azerbaijan. The three companies will prepare proposals on the project to submit to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The ITU has accepted Azerbaijan’s application and circulated to firms engaged in launching satellites. The project will cost $80 million to $100 million but it is not set yet whether the funding will come from the government or investors. At present 25-30 countries have satellites. Azerbaijan uses others’ by making regular payments. After launching its own satellite, Azerbaijan will be a transit country for transmission between Europe and Asia.

Source: Azeri Press Agency via Media Network Weblog