Azerbaijan creates ground satellite control center
The Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry has carried out preparatory work for the construction of a ground control center for the first telecommunication satellite Azerspace, the ministry’s report reads. The Cabinet of Ministers allocated an area of 10 hectares for Azerkosmos to create the center. A loan agreement to finance the construction of the satellite is expected to be signed by late July.
The cost of manufacturing the Azerspace satellite is $120 million, 85 percent of which will be provided to the Azerbaijani side in the form of a US Ex-Im loan, and the remaining 15 percent will be paid by state funds.
US Ex-Im will allocate the loan to Azerbaijan based on funds borrowed from BNP Paribas. As expected, the deal will be financed by US Ex-Im with a two-year period for the use of funds and a ten-year repayment period. Moreover, a loan agreement worth $ 80 million will be signed by late September to launch a satellite into the orbit.The negotiations on the loan from the French export credit agency COFASE have been already begun with French banks Sosiete Generale and SMBC.The cost of launching the Azerspace satellite is $94 million, 85 percent of which will be provided to the Azerbaijani side in the form of a loan, and the remaining 15 percent will be paid by state funds.
The deal will be financed with a two-year period for the use of funds and a ten-year repayment period. At present, negotiations are underway on the interest rate on the loan.
Azerspace's manufacturer is Orbital Sciences Corporation. An orbital position for Azerspace has been leased from the Malaysian MEASAT satellite operator. The French Arianspace has started to manufacture the Ariane 5 ECA rocket carrier, which will launch the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite into orbit. It will be launched into orbit in late 2012.
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