Vietnam's first satellite to be built in April

Vietnam will open a tender this month for satellite production and relevant activities, so that the manufacture of its first communication satellite will start in April, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on Friday.

The Vietnamese government has recently decided to invest 2,885 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 182.6 million U.S. dollars) in manufacturing and launching the medium-sized satellite named Vinasat, which will span its coverage over Vietnam, other Southeast Asian countries, Japan, the Korean peninsula, part of China, eastern Oceanean and the South China Sea, said Tran Duc Lai, deputy minister of posts and telecommunications.

Of the investment, 20 percent will come from the satellite's investor, the state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, and the rest from loans. A satellite control station will be established in Hoai Duc district, northern Ha Tay province and a standby one in Ben Cat district, southern Binh Duong province.

Foreign companies from the United States, France, Japan and Russia are expected to partake in the tender.

Vinasat, planned to have 20 transceivers with lifespan of around 15 years, will be launched in 2008. After coming into operation, the satellite will help the country's telecommunications network not depend on topography and all of its communes have phone, TV and radio coverage.

Now, Vietnam has to use satellite services provided by foreign companies from Thailand, Indonesia and Russia. Vinasat will be Vietnam's second space item since the country's first astronaut took part in a Soviet space mission in 1985.

Source: Xinhua