Ukrainian satellite Lybid to be launched in April 2014, SSAU chief says

KYIV, October 23 /Ukrinform/. The Ukrainian communications satellite Lybid will be launched in April 2014, Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) Yuriy Alekseyev has announced at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday.

"We have signed an agreement that in April, in the third decade, this satellite will be launched," he said, when asked by a Ukrinform reporter.

Earlier, the satellite's launch had been planned in 2013. The delay, according to Alekseyev, was due to technological problems of the Canadian developer MacDONALD, Dettwiler and Associates Corporation (MDA) as they had minor technological challenges with certain units.

"Now these units are being replaced on all crafts. Including on ours. This was the reason for the delay," Alekseyev emphasized.

The project value is about $260 million, and it is implemented by the Canadian company MDA under the guarantees of the Ukrainian government. The satellite unit itself is produced in Krasnoyarsk by JSC Information Satellite Systems - Reshetnev Company, and special transmitting equipment is supplied by the Canadian MDA. The third stage of the satellite is made by Moscow's Lavochkin Research and Production Association.

The launch will be performed by Roskosmos, and after the satellite is put into operation it will be maintained by Ukrkosmos. "Now we are finishing construction works at the control station in Yalta. The equipment has already came from Germany, it was made at the order of the MDA," Alekseyev said.

The contract was signed in 2009.

The Lybid satellite is the first Ukrainian geostationary telecommunications satellite. It is designed to provide services for regional and international broadcasting, direct broadcasting, multimedia services and the Internet, as well data transmission, telephony, video conferencing through VSAT.

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