Photo: United News of Bangladesh

Thales Alenia Space handed over transmission and operation management of Bangabandhu-1 to Bangladesh, and the country will start the commercial activities of the satellite. Bangabandhu-1 is Bangladesh’s first Geostationary Orbit (GEO) communications satellite.

A delegation of Thales Alenia Space handed over relevant documents to acting chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Jahurul Haque. Two ground stations —one in Betbunia in Rangamati and the other at Joydevpur in Gazipur — have been set up to control the satellite.

Thales Alenia Space designed and built the satellite launched into the orbit on May 11. The satellite was launched using the latest version of SpaceX‘s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.