Arianespace selected to launch initial satellite for Azerbaijan

The International Relations and Accounting Center of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan has chosen Arianespace to launch the country’s first communications satellite.

The spacecraft – to be orbited during a heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission by the end of 2012 – will be built by Orbital Sciences Corporation using a STAR-2 platform. It is to deliver a wide range of communications services for all of Azerbaijan, as well as Central Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa.