When I was in university around 2004, we had a three-credit course in our third year called Satellite Communications. It was a new and advanced course in Bangladesh at that time. Our teacher was also not experienced in this course, as he himself had never taken such a course. He himself used to come and teach us and we studied the course mainly on theoretical basis, because Bangladesh did not have any satellite of its own then. The purpose of inclusion of this course was that in future Bangladesh will build its own satellite and students like us will contribute to that project. However, in 2018, Bangladesh became the 57th country to launch its own satellite, but no local scientist or researcher got a chance to contribute to the project.
We then thought that the Bangabandhu-1 satellite was launched with commercial considerations. The country will earn profit from this. Even so, Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL) showed a profit of Tk 85 crore in the latest audit report (2021-22). But now I see there was a loophole. In that report, they did not take into account the depreciation of the satellite. If the depreciation is found, the loss instead of profit is about Tk 66 crore. The previous financial year had almost the same amount of losses. Now the question may arise that the country has benefited from Bangabandhu-1 satellite? Neither research nor trade. Feasibility, feasibility, and market analysis of the project was not done properly, as a result the country did not get any benefit from the project. Rather, it is facing a huge amount of financial loss every year. Financial evaluation and technical development and research related to the project were very important for the project.
India launched Aryabhatta, the first national satellite, in 1975 using a foreign launcher. The satellite was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISROG) itself. However, they used the Soviet Union’s Cosmos 3M rocket for launch. On July 16, 1990, Pakistan launched the Tuidhaft-Oth satellite from a Soviet Union rocket. The ‘Idhafat-A’ satellite was developed by the Pakistan Space Research and Development Agency (SPRD). Again, China successfully launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, in 1970 using its own launcher. The satellite was built by China’s space agency, the China Academy of Space Technology (AST), China’s first space research and technology development organization. The launch was carried out by China’s own launcher Long March-1 rocket. The Long March launcher series is developed and operated by the China National Space Administration, China’s government-run space agency. Meanwhile, Bangladesh launched Bangabandhu-1, the first satellite using a foreign launcher, in 2018. The satellite was built by France’s Thales Alenia Space Company and launched on a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX, a private US space agency. China developed both launchers and satellites using its own technology and researchers. While India used foreign launchers for its first national satellite launch, the satellite ‘Aryabhatta’ was built entirely through its own technology and indigenous researchers. However, on 18 July 1980, India successfully launched the Rohini (Jhag-1) satellite using its own launcher (Jhakhath-3). Pakistan also launched satellites (Twidhaft-Oth) of its own technology. But in case of Bangladesh there was no own launcher and satellite. As a result, the indigenous technology and researchers of Bangladesh had no contribution in the Bangabandhu-1 satellite project. Satellites made by others can be risky from a national security point of view, as the satellite manufacturer is aware of the entire launch process and data, which can pose a major threat to privacy and security. Since Bangladesh’s satellite is built by a foreign company, there is ample reason to worry about our national information security as well. Neither India, Pakistan nor China has compromised on this issue, but Bangladesh has not given proper importance to this matter.
Now, if the government plans to launch a second satellite, it must learn from the mistakes of the previous project. Lessons learned from the implementation of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite project need to be assessed in depth, especially with regard to national security and economic losses. A financial analysis of the second satellite launch project suggests that if it is not possible to build the own launcher, at least use the own technology and researchers to build the satellite. For such project planning to be successful, the government should emphasize domestic research and technological development, provide assistance to foreign technology and experts, and involve the country’s scientists, security analysts and researchers. Such a strategic move will be able to take the space technology sector of Bangladesh to a new horizon, which will not only serve the national interest, but also bring the country to a stronger and respectable position at the international level.
