Orbital Sciences has awarded GMV the contract for developing the complete ground control system for Azerbaijan’s first ever telecommunications satellite, Azerspace/ Africasat-1a.

The satellite is a STAR-2 model of Orbital Sciences Corp (Virginia, USA) in which GMV can draw on its past experience working with Orbital on a similar satellite for StarOne of Brazil. The ground segment architecture is made up by 3 control centers, two in Azerbaijan and one on Measat’s Malaysia site.

The contract includes the supply of hifly^® for real-time satellite monitoring and control, focusGEO for orbit determination, magnet M&C for monitoring and control of the ground system, and smartHz for optimization of transponder use. To supply the complete system GMV is also integrating systems and products from several suppliers, such as Globecom, Glowlink and Zodiac.

Azerspace / Africasat-1a, scheduled for launch in 2012, will improve the quality and stability of Azerbaijan’s television broadcasts and communications while also turning Azerbaijan into a relay site for signal transmission between Europe and Asia. As well as forging even closer bonds with Orbital this new GMV contract also widens the range of its satellite control services.