FINAL REPORT: DEFINITIONAL MISSION TO AZERBAIJAN:
AZERCOSMOS – AZERSPACE-2 FEASIBILITY STUDY
August 07, 2013
Space Partnership International
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Azercosmos has also been engaged in the construction of double-redundant ground facilities in
Baku and Nakhchivan. These stations will play critical roles in telemetry, tracking, and command
(TT&C) of Azerspace-1 and -2, as well as further GEO or LEO Earth observation satellites.
Beyond these attributes, strong managerial skills and expertise gained from the Azerspace-1
satellite will enable Azercosmos to implement the Azerspace-2 project.
Sales and Marketing Capabilities
Azercosmos indicated that it has already pre-sold 40%
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of the capacity on Azerspace-1
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and is on
track to reach 80% within two years. The FS Contractor should validate this claim. The
organization will need to build capacity to support the following sales and marketing objectives for
both national and regional success. Our interviews with Azercosmos management indicated:
That they have 6 customers who will use 50% of Azerspace-1’s Ku-band capacity; and,
A longer-term perspective to capture customers currently utilizing TurkSat capacity due to
TurkSat’s satellite in-orbit technical issues.
Contractor believes that Azercosmos is fortunate to have an anchor customer for 40% of the
capacity. This represents a significant amount of capacity to have pre-sold already at
commencement of operations. Typically, satellite operators reach a 75-85% fill rate only at the end
of 4 to 5 years following commencement of commercial services.
It is important to note that post-launch commercial testing on Azerspace-1 only began in March
2012, conducted by one or more of their larger commercial prospects. Once completed, assuming
the testing is successful, this could enable additional commercial sales.
During our interviews we were also told that Azercosmos is finalizing bandwidth sales with several
Azerbaijan government ministries. These included approximately 6 or more transponder
equivalents (TPE) for e-government applications, 2 TPEs for the Ministry of Energy, and 2 TPEs
for national video services for national television or radio under the Ministry of Communications,
supporting Turkish or Kurdish TV and radio broadcasts.
Additionally, potential large-capacity sales have been forecast by Azercosmos’ CEO/CTO as well
as MCIT within the next six to eight months. Azerspace-1 capacity would be used for high-priority
MCIT programs. Examples include 1) A Ministry of Finance (MOF)/MCIT initiative to extend
bank ATMs to reach last-mile population throughout the country’s 60 regions; 2) MOF/MCIT last-
mile satellite services to fill connectivity gaps for many of the bank’s 3,500 branches, many of
which are located in remote locations and lack the connectivity required for critical money transfer
applications important to Azerbaijan’s Central Bank; 3) A Ministry of Health plan to provide
satellite backup for existing fiber and low reliability copper links to the country’s 15 main
hospitals; 4) Bandwidth for the Ministry of Education, which this year began a major internal re-
organization, and is expected to implement a national fiber and satellite-enabled e-Learning
platform requiring an additional 2 TPEs of commercial data services; or 5) Approximately 4 to 5
TPEs to support international direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operators, such as Iraqi TV, Arabsat,
Dubaisat,
Georgian TV, and other providers in the Middle East.
National Sales Goals Established by Azercosmos
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Azercosmos Interview with Peter B. de Selding | Source: Spacenews, Jan. 28, 2013.:
http://www.spacenews.com/article/profile-rashad-nabiyev-chairman-azercosmos#.UYwCiCt4bT0
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Source: AZ press release
FINAL REPORT: DEFINITIONAL MISSION TO AZERBAIJAN:
AZERCOSMOS – AZERSPACE-2 FEASIBILITY STUDY
August 07, 2013
Space Partnership International
23
Act as a commercial global player.
Recognize that unless it
is aggressively commercialized, the benefits of the Azerbaijan national space
program may remain under-exploited.
Achieve capacity leasing targets by the end of 2014, after the start of Azerspace-1 operations.
Work closely with MEASAT on a number of issues, including possibly developing a joint marketing
and sales strategy for C-band capacity.
Regional Sales Goals Established by Azercosmos
Offer services in neighboring countries with a competitive advantage that
stems mainly from
Azercosmos’ flexible transaction costs and common language with the principal players in the regional
markets.
Focus on “neglected emerging markets,” which have not been attractive to industry giants.
Contractor recommends that FS assess the strengths, limitations, and skills of existing
sales/marketing organization and determine the requirements Azercosmos would need to lead,
develop, and retain the right sales team required to sustain and grow the business.
Description of MCIT/ Azercosmos Business & Government Operations
Capabilities, Commitment and Ability to Implement Project
Satellite Operational Support and Human Resources
Azercosmos has demonstrated its ability to manage a satellite on orbit. Orbital Sciences
Corporation, which manufactured Azerspace-1, turned over its day-to-day satellite operations to
Azercosmos as soon as the satellite was positioned at its 46° East Longitude orbital location after
successfully completing all initial in orbit testing.
Contractor was able to visit the current Ground Station outside of Baku
and verify that Azercosmos
employees are currently managing the operations of the satellite. Typical operations include:
Orbital maneuvers and corrections
Telecommunications
Facility management
Security
Training
Facility Description & Capabilities
Satellite command and control operations are currently carried out at control centers in Baku and
Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.
The two facilities were designed and built by Azercosmos and equipped with ground control
systems provided by Orbital Sciences and U.S. supplier GlobeComm. These included ground
antennas,
radio frequency electronics, computer platforms, software used
to command, monitor and
control the satellite, as well as the telecommunications electronics needed to support the radio
frequency ground services for the satellite.