The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 (''Bangabandhu-1'') is the first
Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
geostationary
A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
s
and broadcasting satellite. It is named after the father of the nation,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...
. It was manufactured by
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufacture ...
and launched on 12 May 2018.
The satellite was the first payload launched by a
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Falcon 9 Block 5
Falcon 9 Block 5 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. It is the fifth version of Falcon 9 Full Thr ...
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...
.
Background
The project is being implemented by
(BTRC) working hand-in-hand with US-based Space Partnership International, LLC. The government-owned
Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited, BSCL (Formerly known as Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited, BCSCL) was formed with the aim of operating the satellite.
The satellite will expand Ku-band coverage over all of Bangladesh and its nearby waters including the Bay of Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, eastern Indian states (West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland,
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
) and Indonesia. This is coupled with C-band coverage for all aforementioned areas.
Bangabandhu-1 was initially planned to be launched on an
Arianespace
Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...
Ariane 5 ECA rocket on 16 December 2017 to celebrate the
Victory day of Bangladesh
Victory Day ( bn, বিজয় দিবস ''Bijôy Dibôsh'') is a public holiday, national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on 16 December to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and th ...
. Following the lack of firm guarantee from
Arianespace
Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...
for that date,
BTRC instead chose the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
The satellite is now located at the 119.1° East longitude geostationary slot.
Construction
Bangabandhu-1 was designed and manufactured by
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufacture ...
. The total cost of the satellite was projected to be 248 million US dollars in 2015 (Tk 19.51 billion), financed via a $188.7 million loan from
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tril ...
. The satellite carries a total of 40
Ku-band
The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...
and
C-band transponders with a capacity of 1600 megahertz and a predicted life span to exceed 15 years.
Map of satellite's position
Launch
![Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Mission (42025498972)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Bangabandhu_Satellite-1_Mission_%2842025498972%29.jpg)
Bangabandhu Satellite-1 was launched at 20:14
UTC on 12 May 2018,
on a
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...
launch vehicle at the
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
,
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
It was the first payload to be launched using the new SpaceX
Block 5 model of the rocket.
Aborted launch
The satellite was originally planned to launch 10 May 2018. However the rocket carrying the payload triggered an automatic abort as it entered internal power and control at T-58 seconds. The rocket launch was pushed back 24 hours, and it was finally launched on 11 May 2018.
Operation
The satellite uses ground control stations built by Thales Alenia Space with its partner Spectra primary ground station in
Gazipur
Gazipur ( bn, গাজীপুর) is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Gazipur District. It is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh. Its other name is Joydebpur.
Demogra ...
. Secondary ground station is at Betbunia,
Rangamati
Rangamati (Bengali: রাঙ্গামাটি;) is the administrative headquarter and town of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an altitude of . The distr ...
The first test signal after launch was received by the operators on 12 May 2018.
See also
*
List of radio stations in Bangladesh
Radio broadcasts commenced in what is now known as Bangladesh in 1939 under British rule, as a part of All India Radio. The state-owned Bangladesh Betar monopolized the radio industry of the country until the launch of Radio Metrowave in 1999. Th ...
*
Mass media in Bangladesh
The mass media in Bangladesh refers to the print, broadcast and online mass media available in Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous coun ...
*
Telecommunications in Bangladesh
The liberalization of Bangladesh's telecommunications sector began with small steps in 1989 with the issuance of a license to a private operator for the provision of ''inter alia'' cellular mobile services to compete with Bangladesh Telegraph ...
References
External links
*
Bangabandhu-1 (BD-1) Communication Satellite - Aerospace-technology.comA short documentary on Bangabandhu Satellite-1Mission detailsBenefits of Bangabandhu Satellite 1Bangabandhu Satellite-1 launch Video
{{Orbital launches in 2018
2018 in Bangladesh
Spacecraft launched in 2018
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit
Satellites of Bangladesh
SpaceX commercial payloads
Memorials to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Telecommunications in Bangladesh
Satellites using the Spacebus bus