Kennedy Space Centre invites visitors to launch of Bangladesh’s first satellite

Kennedy Space Centre invites visitors to
launch of Bangladesh’s first satellite

Kennedy Space Centre in the United States
has invited visitors to attend the launch of
Bangladesh’s first satellite ‘Bangabandhu-1’
into orbit.
Private space flight and technology company
SpaceX has fixed the launch date for
Bangladesh’s first satellite for Thursday
between 4.12pm to 6.22pm local time,
Kennedy Space Centre said in a statement.
It said the satellite will be borne by a block 5
version of Falcon-9 rocket and launched into
geostationary transfer orbit.
Visitors will be able to watch the launch from
both visitor complexes—Apollo/ Saturn V
centre which is 3.9 miles away from the
launch pad and the main visitor complex
which seven miles away from it.
However, one can commute to Apollo/Saturn
V centre only by the bus of Kennedy Space
Centre.
State Minister for Information Tarana Halim,
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak
and Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission Chairman Shahjahan
Mahmood flew off to Florida to witness the
launch of Bangabandhu-1.
However, before he flew off, Mahmood
chairman told bdnews24.com that there could
be many factors to delay the launch as there
have been few postponements earlier.
“At lot depends on, first, weather and then
technical issues,” he said.
“There have been instances that the launch
has been aborted even in the last phase of the
countdown,” Mahmood said. “It could even be
like this 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, abort ...”
SpaceX will be using block 5 version of their
Falcon-9 rocket for the first time to launch a
satellite. Static fire tests for the rocket have
been done on May 4 in Kennedy Space Centre.
The Falcon-9 rocket will be launched into orbit
carrying the geostationary communication
satellite Bangabandhu-1 that weighs 3,500kg,
from the historical launch complex 39-A in
Kennedy Space Centre; the one that was used
to launch Apollo 11 to its mission to the
Moon.
The satellite has been built in Thales Alenia
Space Facilities in France and was taken to
Cape Canaveral launch pad in a special cargo
plane after all the tests and reviews are
completed.
The satellite was originally scheduled to be
launched on Dec 16 but the devastation from
Hurricane Irma last year delayed all the
scheduled launches from Cape Canaveral,

Florida.
Then it was rescheduled to be launched on
May 4, but it got postponed to May 7, said
Telecommunication and Information
Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar in April.
However, it was deferred again due to bad
weather and the launch date has been
finalised to be May 10.
The satellite is expected to save Tk 14 million
a year that is currently spent on renting
foreign satellites.
The satellite will contain 40 transponders;
Bangladesh will use 20 and rent out the rest.