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According to Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, satellite manufacturers from four countries have expressed interest in building Iran’s National Communication Satellite (NCS).
The announcement by Minister Vaezi came after he revealed that a contract had been signed with an unnamed Russian satellite manufacturer for Tehran’s National Remote Sensing Satellite (NRSS).
While Minister Vaezi and the Iranian media have not named the companies interested in building the NCS, Minister Vaezi did say that the companies in question come from China, France, Russia, and South Korea.
“The construction of the two operational satellites is a long-term project and currently, we are in talks with four countries for our communications satellite,” said Vaezi, referring to both the NRSS and the NCS respectively.
“France, Russia, China and South Korea have expressed their interest in participating in the project. We will come to a final decision with one of these four countries and execute the construction of National Communications Satellite Project as one of the objectives of the Sixth Development Plan,” added Vaezi.
While the companies interested in the Iranian NSC programme were not named, it is not much of a challenge to identify who they might be. The Chinese company could well be the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation; the French companies may well be Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia, or even a combination of the two; the South Korean company is likely to be either Korea Aerospace Industries or the Satrec Initiative. Identifying the Russian company interested in building Iran’s NCS is a little more challenging since there are so many manufacturers, but a leading contender is likely to be JSC Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev Company based in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
As more details emerge SpaceWatch Middle East will provide readers with further information in the coming months.
Original published at: http://spacewatchme.com/2016/10/four-countries-interested-building-irans-national-communication-satellite/
