Airbus Defence and Space has signed a strategic agreement with Azerbaijan’s state-run satellite operator, Azercosmos, as it looks to strengthen its presence in the Caucasus.
As part of the long-term pact Azercosmos will acquire the rights to…
Airbus Defence and Space has signed a strategic agreement with Azerbaijan’s state-run satellite operator, Azercosmos, as it looks to strengthen its presence in the Caucasus.
As part of the long-term pact Azercosmos will acquire the rights to Airbus’s recently-launched SPOT 7 satellite for an undisclosed fee.
Azercosmos has renamed the Earth observation satellite Azersky and Airbus will help it to develop its ground segment as part of the arrangement. Airbus will also train up 25 Azerbaijani professionals in optical satellite operations, product development, sales, and marketing of geo-information services.
SPOT 7 (Azersky) was lofted on 30 June from India by a PSLV rocket and has a 12-year lifespan. The satellite was commercially launched on 2 December and completes its optical satellite constellation.
The companies will jointly operate Azersky, and also the SPOT 6; which will remain in Airbus’s hands.
Together with Pléiades 1A & 1B, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, Airbus says it is now the first operator “to offer customers a full palette of Earth-imaging data spanning multiple resolution and spectral wavelengths”.
Evert Dudok, Airbus’s head of communications, intelligence and security business line, said: “It is a great success to have such an agreement with Azercosmos, in a region offering a high potential for satellite imagery and geo-information applications.
“This cooperation will allow a business and operational model which is brand new and very innovative for us.”
Rashad Nabiyev, Azercosmos CEO, noted that it was an important step taken by the operator to diversify its satellite services.
Azercosmos launched its first satellite, Azerspace-1, in February 2013 and it should be operational until 2028. It provides broadband and broadcast solutions to customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia from 46E longitude. The company plans to loft another telecoms satellite in the next couple of years, as well as to continue to develop its Earth observation services.
