May 5 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian telecommunications company Bulsatcom said on Friday its geostationary communications satellite, BulgariaSat-1 - the country's first – is due to be launched in mid-June.
The satellite will be taken into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which is partially reusable, thus giving smaller countries the chance to have their own satellites, Maxim Zayakov, CEO of BulgariaSat, said in a statement.
Before the satellite was shipped to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in the US for launch, it has passed a number of checks ensuring it will perform nominally during its design life in the harsh outer space conditions, according to the statement.
Preparing the launch pad will take around one month, including preliminary tests and trials. A Bulgarian team of seven engineers is currently working on the final stage of the project.
Following the launch, the BulgariaSat-1 satellite will be positioned into an orbit at 36,000 km above the Earth. Within a month of the launch, the ground control room will carry out the necessary tests and settings before the satellite can become operationally ready to broadcast.
Some 46% of the satellite’s capacity will be used by Bulsatcom and its subsidiaries on the Bulgarian and Serbian markets.
The satellite has a 15-year lifespan under the contract but has enough fuel to last an additional five years, according to the statement.
Bulsatcom is a leading telecommunications company and the largest pay-TV services provider in Bulgaria.