Vietnam is preparing to launch its first satellite, hoping to improve the country's telecommunications to keep pace with its rapid economic development, officials said Wednesday. Vinasat No. 1 is scheduled to be launched April 12 from Kourou spaceport in South America, and will be ready for use in May.
Viet Nams first satellite was scheduled to go into orbit on Thursday, April 10, a week later than planned, satellite-project director Hoang Minh Thong said yesterday. Source
Viet Nams first satellite, Vinasat-1, was put into Kourou launching pad in French Guyana on February 13 after two years of preparations. Vinasat-1 is scheduled to be launched into orbit on April 2 at 132 degrees east a position that Viet Nam registered with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 1999. The send-off may be broadcast live on Viet Nam Television.
Vietnam plans to launch its first orbit satellite March 29, 2008, reducing the country's reliance on leased foreign satellites for its communication traffic, an official said Tuesday. The satellite, dubbed Vinasat, is being built by US's Lockheed Martin and is scheduled to be launched from France, using an Arianspace rocket, according to Hoang Minh Thong, head of the Vinasat project management board under the Vietnam Post and Telecoms Group (VNPT).