Egypt wants new satellite
February 8, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Egypt has been granted permission by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to place a satellite at the 35.5 degrees East orbital position.
The decision by the ITU is controversial insofar as Egypt’s application is out of time, and in the past the ITU has been tough on nations which – for whatever reason – do not keep to the rules regarding complying with their agreed obligations. Egypt now has an additional three years to get its satellite into orbit.
The decision has generated further controversy because Egypt’s proposed satellite will be extremely near to Eutelsat’s existing 36-B craft which is located at 35.9 degrees East.
The potential problem comes about because part of Egypt’s cargo manifest includes a Ka-band payload, and the Eutelsat satellite is already operating matching Ka-band frequencies.
Egypt says it could have a craft in place by 2019 with capacity for Ka and C-band, as well as military capacity. The Egypt craft’s official name is Zavisat-12A.