Vietnam Checks Satellite Design in US
Minister of Post and Telecom Do Trung Ta recently paid a working visit to the US and checked the manufacturing of the telecom satellite Vinasat-1, at Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems won the bid to provide the satellite, launching service, and other equipment for the Vinasat-1 satellite project of Vietnam.
According to the company’s report, the manufacturing of the Vinasat satellite is on schedule. The contractor has completed the detailed design of the satellite.
From August to October 2007, the US contractor will assemble Vinasat for test operations before launching.
Vinasat-1, estimated to cost VND2,885 billion (US$180 million), is scheduled to be launched into orbit on May 23, 2008 by Ariane 5 from France-based Arianespace’s Kourou spaceport in French Guyana, South America.
Vinasat, designed to operate in space around 15 years, will cover phone, television, and radio services in Vietnam, Japan, the Korean peninsula, parts of China, eastern Oceania, and the South China Sea.
Currently, Vietnam rents telecom satellite services from Thailand, Indonesia and Russia. (Tuoi Tre Online)
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