Chris Forrester
Satellite operators around the world are suffering from falling revenues and squeezed margins — but not at Azercosmos, which operates from Azerbaijan in the Caucasus.
Revenues of Azerbaijan’s state-owned satellite operator Azercosmos – from commercial operation of satellites and telecom services – increased by 4.2 times year-on-year in January-February, amounting to $8.4 million, local media reported.
Azercosmos services were bought by 22 nations. The bulk of the company’s services in the reporting period fell to the United States ($4.5 million), the UK ($1.9 million), France ($1.3 million), the United Arab Emirates ($214,000) and Germany ($151,000).
These incomes accounted for 90 percent of the company’s revenues and contributed to the overall revenue last year of $43.4 million (2018 $25.6m).
Azerspace-1, the company’s first satellite, was launched into geostationary orbit at 46 degrees east longitude on Feb 8, 2013. The launch of the satellite was carried out from the Kourou spaceport and serving Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Azercosmos launched the new satellite Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 on September 25, 2018, and the satellite has a joint mission and will serve two operators – Intelsat SA and Azercosmos.
