Clock ticking as Vietnam counts down to first satellite launch
HANOI - Vietnam is stepping up
preparations to launch its
first satellite into space as
the countdown begins to a
make-or-break 2006
deadline.
Officials are working
round-the-clock to make
sure telecommunications
satellite Vinasat hits its reserved orbit slot, sources said.
While China announced its first manned space flight will
take place in the next three months, Vietnam is in high
gear on a project which has been sitting on the
government's books since 1995.
Vice premier Nguyen Tan Dung was named the head of
the steering committee earlier this month. The satellite's
foreign constructor should be known by the end of the
year, according to a Vietnamese source.
Vinasat will be used for television and radio broadcasts, as
well as civil aviation, and is aimed at improving
communications across Vietnam.
"The Vietnamese are working night and day. They have to,
because the project is restricted by the rights to their
orbital position -- if they don't launch the satellite in
February 2006, they lose their rights," a foreign expert
explained.
Confronted by an ever-growing number of satellite
launches, the Geneva-based International
Telecommunication Union demands that operators who
reserve an orbital slot use it within a pre-determined
time-limit.
"There are some time-limits," said ITU spokesman Gary
Fowlie.
"If a country announces it wants to launch a satellite on
one precise orbit, and doesn't use it after this limit, the
space is free for someone else."
But such a project cannot be concluded overnight.
"We have several technical and administrative problems to
solve, especially frequencies, finance, the evaluation of
economic interests and coordinating various services,"
said the Vietnamese source, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
"But I think choosing (a constructor) is possible towards
the end of the year.
"It's a sensitive project because it involves several foreign
partners and several sectors within the country, at the
highest level. But I think the deadline can be reached if we
intensify our efforts."
Vietnam has asked the constructors to provide the
complete package -- satellite, launch and orbit services.
Russian state enterprise NPOPM, French-European
consortium Astrium (EADS)-Alcatel Espace, American
firm Lockheed-Martin and the US-Japanese
Nec-Toshiba-Orbital Science Corporation (OSC) are in the
running for the contract.
The bidders all appeared before an ad hoc commission
between September 6-9.
They have since handed over a revised offer and a report
will be submitted to the prime minister's office in the
coming weeks.
"The enterprise chosen will have to do everything -- build
the satellite and launch it, and maintain it in orbit," Robert
F. Young, Lockheed-Martin's Asia Pacific director-general,
told the Lao Dong daily last month.
The foreign expert quoted earlier added: "A satellite is a
tool of sovereignty. An operator always wants to be
autonomous. But the contract will certainly involve
technical assistance over several months at least."
Vietnam's ambitions remain modest. Vinasat will be of
average size, with 20-28 communication modules each
capable of carrying four-six television channels.
It will cover Vietnam and other Asian nations, particularly
Japan and the Korean peninsula, and will not be in
operation for more than 15 years.
The bidders have included a finance projection in their
applications and according to the foreign expert, the
budget could be more than 200 million dollars.
"It is too early to say how much the project will cost. We
will choose a contractor who meets our technical
demands. The price could be negotiated," Luu Van Luong,
a consultant for Vietnam Post and Telecommunication,
told AFP.
Agence France Press - September 17, 2003.
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