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KazSat-3 launch to give Kazakhstan information independence, security

ASTANA, April 12, /ITAR-TASS/. Kazakhstan is preparing to launch its second KazSat-3 satellite, which will ensure its information independence and security, National Space Agency (Kazcosmos) Head Talgat Musabayev said on Saturday, April 12.

“Our country will launch three satellites this year: KazSat-3 on April 28; two days before that a French Vega rocket will take a high-resolution Earth remote sensing satellite to orbit from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana. Another such satellite will be launched in June,” he said in an interview with the newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda (Kazakh Truth).

KazSat-3 will be able to act as a backup for KazSat-2 launched several years ago. “With the launch of KazSat-3 our country will get a complete communication system with a backup satellite in orbit and the main and backup control centres on the ground. This is will ensure our information independence,” Musabayev said.

He admitted that it could be cheaper to lease foreign satellites, but “Kazakhstan needs its own system, control centres and personnel to ensure our information independence”.

KazSat-3 is designed to provide communication services, carry television broadcasts and ensure broadband Internet access in Kazakhstan and adjacent countries. It was designed and made under contract with the Republican Space Centre (Kazakhstan) and assembled by Russia’s Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems.

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