Just over a year ago (on 11 May 2018), the first Bangladeshi satellite — Bangabandhu Satellite-1 — was launched from Cape Canaveral by a Falcon 9 rocket.

Designed to spur the country’s economic growth, the satellite will give its inhabitants access to a wide range of telecommunications services, including direct-to-home TV, radio, telemedicine, remote learning and Internet access in general.

The advent of Bangladesh’s first satellite will help bridge the ‘digital divide’, not only in major cities, but also in rural areas; it will also support economic growth, generate jobs and help to improve a number of business sectors in the region.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1, which is based on a Spacebus 4000B2 platform from Thales Alenia Space, is equipped with 26 Ku-band and 14 C-band transponders.

Thales Alenia Space was prime contractor; its responsibilities included satellite design, production, testing and in-orbit delivery, along with the satellite control centre and the network operations centre.