Bangabandhu Satellite-1 by Thales Alenia Space launches on SpaceX rocket to narrow digital divide

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX, with headquarters in Hawthorne, California, launched Bangabandhu Satellite-1 – Bangladesh’s first satellite, which was built by Thales Alenia Space engineers in Cannes, France – on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from a launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

“It is a very historical and exciting moment for the entire nation of Bangladesh to watch its very first satellite taking off for space successfully,” Thales Alenia Space officials say.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is a telecommunications and broadcasting satellite targeted at narrowing the digital divide by bringing broadcasting and telecommunication services to rural areas and introduce profitable services, including direct-to-home services, across the country and over the region.

Thales Alenia Space handled the design, production, testing, and the delivery in orbit of Bangabandhu Satellite-1, and also took charge of the two ground segments (Primary and Secondary), which will benefit from SpaceOps tools for the mission planning and monitoring.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is fitted with 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders. It offers capacity in Ku-Band over Bangladesh and its territorial waters of the Bay of Bengal, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Indonesia, officials say, and provides capacity in C-Band over the whole region.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 includes all necessary components to manage the customer business and to provide end-user services to network operator, officials say, and will ensure immediate generation of revenues for its customer Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) as soon as the In Orbit Test (IOT) is completed.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 system is designed to provide:

• Direct To Home (DTH): service consisting of multiplexed digital television, radio, and associated data direct to very small antennas.
• Video Distribution: multiplexed digital television, radio and associated data services to medium-sized antennas
• VSAT Private Networks: shall support private networks consisting of voice, data, video and Internet services, to banks, gas stations, etc. with medium-sized antennas.
• Broadband: service that allows the end-user (individual, organization, corporation or Government) to remotely access the Internet at high speed with high quality of service.
• Communications Trunks: wide-band high data rate point-to-point services

Thales Alenia Space designs and delivers high-technology solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science, and orbital infrastructures. Governments, institutions, and companies rely on Thales Alenia Space to design, operate, and deliver satellite-based systems that help them position and connect anyone or anything, everywhere, help observe our planet, help optimize the use of our planet's – and our solar system’s – resources. Thales Alenia Space believes in space as humankind’s new horizon, which will enable to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth.

A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies’ Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services and solutions. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of about 2.6 billion euros in 2017 and has 7,980 employees in nine countries.