B\\\'desh to put satellite in orbit to do away with high rent charges

Spending money to rent satellite links for the growing number of television channels and other purposes has for some time been on the increase by ten per cent every year in the country, sources said.

In the year 2011, the total expenditure on renting satellite links was around $10 million, and last year the amount was $11 million, sources said.  

According to an estimate, last year both the private and state-owned satellite television channels paid more than $6.0 million for this rental. The number is increasing due to different space-related purposes.

Sources said apart from the television channels, another amount of $5.0 million is also going out of the country for renting satellite links for other purposes.

The source added in the next fifteen years the costs for satellite links would reach $165 million.

To save this huge sum of foreign currency and to improve the national satellite-based communication systems, the government has planned to put a satellite in space orbit. The process is fast advancing, it has been learnt.

A scientist at Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation (SPARRSO) said the giant project of launching a satellite in space would be viable if there were at least two other Bangladeshi satellites in the orbit at different angles.

He said Bangladesh was currently dependent on other countries' satellites and it was not getting the real-time data for various purposes.

He said the launch of a satellite of the country's own would save foreign currency and the unused links would be rented to other countries, like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Another source at Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said, "At this moment we do not need a satellite of our own as this is a matter of huge expense, and there are many problems in the country that require greater priority than launching a satellite."

He said, "Currently we pay money for getting satellite links and the amount is not much when compared with that to be spent for getting a satellite of our own. It requires at least Tk 50 billion."

Besides, he said the average life-span of a satellite is only five years and its maintenance costs are also high, and only a single satellite cannot provide all the data.

Another source at SPARRSO said just for five years, spending of a huge amount of money in space would not bring a positive result for the country.

He said, "Currently our ground stations under the BMD are in a vulnerable condition. We do not get high-resolution data in cyclone and storm forecasts."

He said, "For real-time data and information we need to depend on other countries' satellites as our signal receiving stations are in a poor condition."

He said the government should at first solve this problem to ensure proper weather forecasting, alongside information about agriculture, fisheries, climate change etc.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) bears the responsibility for launching the proposed satellite but it faces the trouble over 'space allocation'.

A good number of countries have objected to space allocation for a Bangladeshi satellite.

A source at BTRC said they were making progress with the satellite project.

He said Bangladesh has already selected a US consultant for the project.

The BTRC source said as Bangladesh was not getting space according to its desired location, an initiative has been taken to rent or purchase it from a Russian company named Sputnik.

According to data provided by BTRC, if Bangladesh's own satellite is launched into space it will earn $50 million every year from other countries by renting out the unused links. The project will also help in saving the current $11 million spent for different satellite-link purposes.

A source at a satellite consulting firm, assigned by BTRC to the satellite launch task, said currently 50 countries around the world have their own satellites, and among the SAARC countries only India and Pakistan have their own satellites in space.

The consulting firm sources also said the current 'satellite economy' in the world is worth $101.30 billion. In the year 2009, it was worth $93 billion, and the satellite economy is increasing across the globe.

A source at the company said if Bangladesh could launch its own satellite in the next three years, then it would be able to save a large amount of foreign currency.