Vietnam prepares to launch new satellite

Speaking at the State management conference in the first quarter of 2024 with the management subjects being enterprises, associations, unions and press agencies, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung requested the Radio Frequency Department and VNPT to promptly submit a plan to launch a new satellite to replace the expired VINASAT-1 satellite.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung also affirmed: “To ensure national security, VNPT will carry out this satellite launch project. The Ministry of Information and Communications will support VNPT to overcome difficulties when launching new satellites.”

Speaking to VietNamNet , a representative of the Radio Frequency Department said that the newly launched satellite will replace the expired VINASAT-1 satellite and will reuse the old frequency band. Therefore, there is no need to plan frequencies for the new satellites that will be launched here.

Previously, on April 18, 2008, VINASAT-1 was successfully launched into orbit, affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over satellite space. The satellite was manufactured by Lockheed Martin (USA) and launched into orbit by an Adrian-5 rocket (France). The orbital position is 1320E (132 degrees east).

The satellite weighs 2.8 tons and has an operating life of 15 years. Operating frequency bands: Extended C-band and Ku-band with wide coverage including Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Eastern China, India, Korea, Japan, Australia and Hawaii.

VINASAT-1 has a total investment value of approximately 300 million USD, and will expire in 2023. Thus, up to this point, the VINASAT-1 satellite has expired for nearly 1 year. At that time, VNPT expected to recover its capital after 10 years.

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Vietnam plans to launch a new satellite to replace the expired VINASAT-1.

Then, on May 16, 2012, the VINASAT-2 satellite was launched into orbit. The investment capital for VINASAT-2 is approximately 260 million USD, invested and managed by VNPT. The VINASAT-2 satellite has a larger capacity, a larger weight, and more transponders, thus having more bandwidth capacity.

If VINASAT-1 is designed with 20 active transponders, including 8 extended C-band sets, 12 Ku-band sets, with a bandwidth of 36MHz/set, 8 spare transponders (4 Ku-band sets, 4 extended C-band sets), then VINASAT-2 is more "magnificent", with 30 Ku-band transponders (24 commercially exploited sets and 6 spare sets).

Thus, it can be seen that VINASAT-2 has 4 more transponders than VINASAT-1, equivalent to 20% of the capacity of VINASAT-1. While VINASAT-1 has Ku-band coverage in: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and part of Myanmar, VINASAT-2 has a wider coverage area with coverage of part of Malaysia and Myanmar. With VINASAT-2, it can have a lifespan of up to 21.3 years.

VINASAT-1 can still operate for about 5 more years.

A frequency expert told VietNamNet that although the VINASAT-1 satellite has reached its designed useful life, it can still operate for another 5 years. However, preparing for a new satellite is an urgent issue because we cannot be sure when this satellite will stop operating.

"Normally, when bidding to buy satellite capacity, customers will require the satellite to have about 30% of its usage time according to the design commitment. Therefore, this time will be difficult for VNPT - the unit operating VINASAT-1 and VINASAT-2, when bidding for satellite transmission services," the expert said.

After successfully launching two satellites VINASAT-1 and VINASAT-2, Vietnam became the 7th country in the ASEAN region and realized the dream of having a position and sovereignty in satellite orbit.

The launch of VINASAT satellite is of special importance in completing Vietnam's telecommunications system, when previously there was radio communication, wire communication, terrestrial communication, sea communication and now there are telecommunications satellites.

It has a proactive effect in connecting remote areas, border areas, and islands that our country could not previously do with terrestrial information systems.

This satellite will help Vietnam be proactive in ensuring national defense and security, especially in tasks in border areas, islands and at sea.

Currently, the satellite market is experiencing fierce price competition among operators in the region.