The United Arab Emirates will launch its first communications satellite, the Thuraya 1, by September’s end, officials at the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications company said. The launch, undertaken by US-based Sea Launch, will take place 3000 miles southwest from Long Beach, California.
Designed for a lifespan of 12 to 15 years, the Thuraya satellite will be placed in geo-synchronous orbit, positioned 36,000 km above the Earth, at 44 degrees East Longitude. The five-ton satellite has a 12.5-meter wavelength and is one of the largest commercial communication satellites in the world.
The launch of the $600 million satellite, financed by foreign and local banks, was originally scheduled for May, but then postponed. Mohammed Hussein Ammran, chairman of Thuraya Satellite, explained that an unsuccessful launch of an American satellite prior to the scheduled Thuraya launch was the reason for the delay.
The failure was caused by a computer glitch at the launch site. Ammran said the UAE was not seeking compensation for the delay and was more concerned with knowing the reasons for the failure.
Thuraya has already started to market the satellite that will be ready to launch commercial services in January 2001. The company has signed contracts with 20 countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent, and is presently in negotiations with 99 additional countries in Central Asia, Africa and Europe.
By January, Ammran expects the company to have signed 52 contracts in all. — (Albawaba-MEBG)
