Lao Sat-1 officials met in Vientiane yesterday to introduce the satellite to potential government and private sector clients. In attendance were Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Mr Hiem Phommachanh, General Manager of the Lao Asia-Pacific Satellite Co., Ltd. Mr Ding Yongbing, and other government and private sector officials.

“After Lao Sat-1 was successfully launched on November 21, 2015 we trialled operations for about two months and we expect to officially begin commercial service in the middle of March,” Mr Ding told media at the meeting.

An official said the cost of renting Lao Sat-1 would be cheaper than using other satellites for communication purposes, with the life of the satellite being 15 years.

Lao Sat-1 was launched by a LM-3B laun ch vehicle from the Xi Chang Launch Centre in Sichuan province, China. After several orbiting manoeuvres, the satellite was successfully parked in a 128.5 E orbit slot on November 26 last year.

The satellite is equipped with 22 transponders (14 in C-band and 8 in Ku-band) which will provide various services such as satellite transponder leasing services, satellite telecommunications and teleports, satellite TV broadcasting, emergency support and other uses.

The satellite was designed, developed and delivere d on-orbit by China with the total project cost amounting to US$259 million.

The satellite is designed to provide communication links for government work, television transmission and a range of telecommunication applications in Laos.

A shareholders’ agreement for the Lao Sat-1 Joint Venture Company was signed in Vientiane on October 30 between the Lao government and three Chinese developers.

The Lao government holds a 45 per cent stake in the Lao Sat-1 Joint Venture Company, while APMT has a 35 per cent shareholding, SSTC has 15 per cent, and APST has a 5 per cent stake.

A ground station for the satellite was built on a 12.16 hectare site in Vientiane close to the MekongRiver and Thadeua Road about 3.6 km from the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge.