Dhaka: Bangladesh’s first geostationary communication satellite Bangabandhu-I (BS-I) has begun its maiden transmission through the broadcasting of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship.
Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL), the organization responsible to operate the satellite, began the operation this afternoon by broadcast the SAFF Championship, said BCSCL Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood.
The BCSCL provided feed to BTV after receiving it from a private satellite TV station which won the broadcasting rights for the tournament.
It is a “pre-test” for commercial operations, however, all previous tests required were completed successfully since the satellite took position into the orbit.
The 12th edition of the SAFF Championship is the biennial international men’s football championship of South Asia organized by the SAFF and Bangladesh is hosting it from September 4 to 15.
Bangabandhu-I was successfully launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida of United States at 16:14 local time (02:14 BST) on May 11. Most modern rocket “Block 5” version of the Falcon 9 of SpaceX lifted the satellite for the orbit located at 119.1 degree east and after ten days of launch, it took the position in the desired location (orbital slot).
According to the agreement, Thales Alenia Space of France will handle the satellite along with local engineers for the next three years. To this end, an 18-member team of local engineers has been trained up.
Bangladesh will operate satellite from 119.1 degree east using a payload comprising 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders to deliver focused telecommunications coverage to Bangladesh. One transponder is equivalent to 36 MHz.
Ku-band covers Bangladesh and its territorial area of the Bay of Bengal, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines. C-band covers Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and portions of Kazakhstan.
The government took the Bangabandhu-I project in May 2015 and assigned the Thales Alenia by signing a $248-million deal in November the same year. The satellite has 15 years for mission lifespan while another three years for its design.
The satellite will offer video services for Direct-to-Home (DTH), e-learning, Tele-medicine, Family Planning, Farming etc while voice service to cellular backhaul and disaster recovery, and data service for internet, SCADA, SOHO as well as business-to-business (VSAT).
