Dhaka: The Bangabandhu satellite-1, the first geostationary communications satellite of Bangladesh, is scheduled to leave the manufacturing station in France on Thursday for Cape Carnival Launch Pad in Florida, USA.

The satellite will leave Thales Alenia Space’s plant in Cannes on March 29^th, said the manufacturer of the satellite in a Tweet massage.

‘It will take-off from Nice Airport onboard the Antonov on March 29 (between 6 to 8 am local time). After a layover in Bostin on March 29 , it will arrive in Cape on March 30,’ it said.

Contacted, Bangabandhu satellite-1 project Director Md Mesbahuzzaman said, ‘Within three/four days the authority will let us know the satellite launching schedule.’

AmericaSpace, a daily US space news provider in a recent report said, ‘SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Bangabandhu 1 communications satellite for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The Bangabandhu Satellite with a capacity of 1,600 megahertz will have 40 transponders and the physical equipment of the space capsule that measures the capacity. Half of the capacity will be reserved for the country while the rest will be rented out, said sources at the satellite project.

On October 21, 2015, The Cabinet Purchase Committee approved the project to buy the satellite system.

Later, BTRC signed a deal involving Tk 2,000 crore with Thales Alenia Space to construct the first-ever satellite project.

On September 9, 2016, an agreement of 157 million Euro (equivalent to Tk 1,400 crore) with Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) was signed for financing the project.

Bangladesh is currently meeting its satellite connectivity demand through renting a bandwidth from foreign operators and the country has to pay Tk 14 million US dollars a year for it.