Myanmar to launch own satellite in 2019

The Myanmar government plans to launch its own communications satellite in June 2019 at a cost of $155.7 million.

MyanmarSat 2 will have six C-band transponders and six KU-Band transponders with 864MHz of total bandwidth.

The satellite will be at least partly owned by the government, unlike the MyanmarSat 1 which is being used under a lease model.

The government is considering three potential ownership models – paying to lease a condosat transponder from another country, a joint ownership model or total ownership of the system. The joint ownership model has been favored by the Union Minister of Transport and Communications.

Because the project would be most effective if all the capacity of the satellite is being utilized, the government is also exploring co-operation with the private sector. State-owned MPT has already proposed to lease 72MHz of the satellite’s total capacity.

News of the Myanmar project came days after the Cambodian government announced plans to launch its first communications satellite by as early as 2021. This project also has an estimated budget of around $150 million.