As Askar Zhumagaliyev, Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan said on January 29, the country is ready to allocate more than $150 million (40 billion tenge) to build its new satellite KazSat-2R.
«At the moment the question is to study the technical and financial viability of the project that costs about $150 million,» Zhumagaliyev said on the sidelines of mazhilis, the lower chamber of the Kazakhstani parliament, when asked about spending.
According to the minister, the total sum includes spending on satellite production as well as costs on ground-based systems that support the satellite’s work.
Zhumagaliyevsaidthat after a study on the technical and financial viability of the project, Kazakhstan will choose a company to produce thesatellite.
«Bidding procedures would help us to reveal a company we can call a partner. All paperwork has been done and we are ready to start bidding. As soon as we choose a contractor, we’ll start work,»he noted.
Currently, the Kazakhstani KazSat space program includes two communication satellites, KazSat-2 and KazSat-3. Kazakhstan previously planned to produce and launch KazSat-2P to replace the KazSat-2 satellite.
During the Digital Samruk 2019 conference in December, Zhumagaliyev stated that Kazakhstan is going to produce some parts of the satellite at the assembling plant in Nur-Sultan.
KazSat-2R satellite is designed to provide uninterrupted work of current networks of satellite communication and television broadcasting. The coverage area of the KazSat-2R satellite will include the entire territory of Kazakhstan, the territory of the Central Asian countries, and the territory of the central part of Russia.
