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Azerbaijan mulls over launch of a national satellite

22 January 2009 07:25 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijanâ€™s Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies said it has invited tenders from some 10 satellite firms of a number of countries, including the United States, Russia and China.
The US-based Boeing and Orbital Science have also invited to submit their bids for the manufacturing and launch of the satellite. The best bidder will be selected in April.
Earlier, the ministry said the national communications satellite, AzerSpace, is slated for launch in early 2011.
The countryâ€™s TV broadcasts are being transmitted through satellites of other countries at present.
Launching a communications satellite costs about $100-160 million in the world practice, but Azerbaijan has not set how much will it cost and whether the project will be financed by the government or investors.
Azerbaijan intends to launch a satellite that will deliver broadcasting services though a broader area covering the entire Europe (excluding Scandinavia) and half of Asia with most of Kazakhstan.