Bangladesh has received test signal from its first satellite hours after it was launched into the orbit, says the Gazpiur ground station for Bangabandhu-1.
“A signal was received a few hours after the rocket’s liftoff,” said Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company’s Managing Director Md Saiful Islam.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 2:14am on Friday on a mission to take the satellite into its orbit and the Bangabandhu-1 reached the geostationary transfer orbit around 33 minutes after the launch.
Three ground stations in the US, Italy and South Korea were supposed to take control of the satellite initially.
A 32-strong workforce is ready at the Gazipur ground station to take control of the satellite after around two more months.
Bangladesh has also built a backup ground station in Rangamati to operate the satellite.