SupremeSAT

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SupremeSAT

SupremeSAT logo
Established October 25, 2011
Headquarters Colombo, Sri Lanka
Primary spaceport Xi-Chang, China
Budget US$ 320 million[1]
Website www.supremesat.com

SupremeSAT (Pvt) Ltd describes itself as the first and only Sri Lankan satellite operator. It claims a partnership with China's state owned satellite manufacturing institution China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC).

SupremeSAT was expected to deploy the first Sri Lankan satellite, Supreme SAT-I on November 22 but postponed till November 27 due to bad weather from Xi-Chang in China. The launch vehicle payload fairing carried the Sri Lankan national flag and Supremesat says the satellite, Chinasat 12 (see the name on the rocket in the photo), is jointly owned by itself and CGWIC.

CGWIC does not include the satellite in any list of its holdings. In a press release, CGWIC describes the satellite as being owned by China Satellite Communications Co. Ltd. (CSCC), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation (CASC)[2].

Supreme SAT-I

Supremesat is not mentioned in any public statements from the Chinese companies involved and it was not represented at the post-launch press conference. Only representatives of CSCC and Thales Alenia Space of France, the satellite manufacturer, were on the dais and only the Chinese and French national flags were on show.

The company says it was widely acclaimed for taking the giant step of entering into a niche industry, and that Initial reactions from the opposition parties in Sri Lanka were very hostile due to the fact that they believed the government has invested public money in the company. The youngest son of the country's president is Technical Director of Supremesat. In fact, the USD 320 million was committed by Sri Lankan born millionnaire R.M.Manivannan.

At the time "Supreme SAT I" went into orbit, the company was talking of China SAT 11 (due for launch in 2013) as carrying the name "Supreme SAT II". However, as the May 1 launch of China SAT 11 approached, there were no announcements forthcoming from the Supreme SAT company, and direct questions to it on the subject went unanswered. Images of the launcher in preparation and lifting off showed no badges or logos relating either to Supreme SAT or to Sri Lanka.

In fact, there have been no significant public mentions, press releases or open signs of activity from the company since early-January 2013. The latest posting of company news to Supreme SAT's Facebook page[7] is dated 13 December 2012. It was followed by New Year greetings on January 2 but, since then, silence on company matters. For the first half of 2013 at least, the Facebook page became one for general space news, carrying occasional space-related stories copied from other web sites.

However, Ending months of speculation, SupremeSAT signed a massive USD 215$ Million contract with China Great Wall Industry Corporation for the "In Orbite Delivery" of SupremeSAT-II.

Contract signing of SupremeSAT-II

The contract was signed in Beijing on the 27.05.2013 and to demonstrate the crucial national and bilateral importance of this contract, Both the Sri Lankan President and the Chinese President witnessed the signing ceremony along with many distinguished personalities including the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Prof.G.L.Pieris, The Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka Mr.Lalith Weeratune, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan President Mr.Gamini Senerath and also the Sri Lankan Treasury Secretary Dr.P.B.Jayasundera. The target launch for SupremeSAT-II is set for Mid 2016.

Supreme SAT has laid foundation stone for the first 'Space Academy' at the Kandy BOI (Board of Investment). An investment of US$ 20 million on Space Academy, which is targeting to train Sri Lanka's in space and satellite technology, will begin in 2013. Also, This space Academy which is also the operating Teleport of the company will be operational by mid June 2013 as per the latest company release. The Chinese government too has placed high importance on this Teleport for which the foundation stone was laid late last year by Mr.Chen Qiufa - Chinese Vice Minister of Industries & Information Technology.

The fact that the youngest son of the President of Sri Lanka being employed by the company as its technical director is a key reason for the company being in the controversy. Further the indo china rivalry too is making the company catch the headlines for the wrong reasons.

However, SupremeSAT is forging ahead regardless of the many doubts and accusations with the strength of The Supreme Group and its young owner R.M.Manivannan. Since the launch the group has overnight become a billion dollar group securing valuable mineral assets from Madagascar, Indonesia to Mongolia and many other countries. It's space business to is now growing overseas with countries like Afghanistan and The Maldives already shortlisting SupremeSAT for the launch of their own satellites.

The latest press release of the company dated 29.05.2013, Sets a clear record of the company's plan and operations, restricting the Fleet to SupremeSAT-I and SupremeSAT-II with the Kandy Teleport/Space Academy taking shape as well.

Satellite fleet

SatelliteLocationLaunchedTypeNotes
SupremeSAT-I 87.5°ENovember 27, 2012 SB4000C2 Manufacturer: Thales Alenia Space
SupremeSAT-II TBAPlanned Mid 2016DFH-4Manufacturer: China Academy of Space Technology.

Other International Affiliations

Supreme SAT - II With Afghanistan.

Apart from the obvious relationship with the "People's Republic of China", SupremeSAT has built very strange and strong relationships in the Arab Region as well.

Supreme SAT with Iraq Government.

The Government of Iraq is having decisive negotiations with the company to secure satellite capacity whilst the Government of Afghanistan has already signed an MOU with the company offering it's orbital slot of 50E (which is also the same location of Sri Lanka & Iraq).

References

  1. ↑ dailynews.lk

Sri Lanka contracts $215 million Chinese Big Brother eye satellite on South Asia


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.