Azerbaijan – a regional space power
Azerbaijan is successfully developing the national space industry. This is an adequate response of the country to modern global challenges and trends, its progress towards the goal set by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
President Ilham Aliyev has clearly and concretely expressed the goal: “Azerbaijan must become the leader of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
The program for the construction and development of the space industry occupies a special place among the large-scale projects being implemented in the country to ensure technological development and the formation of an innovative society.
The beginning of a new space history
The State Programme on the Establishment and Development of the Space Industry in the Republic of Azerbaijan was adopted in 2008. This document laid the foundation for the new space history of Azerbaijan.
In 2010, Azercosmos Open Joint Stock Company was established in order to launch, manage and operate satellites.
After another 3 years, a historic event took place for the country: in 2013, Azerbaijan’s first satellite, the Azerspace-1 telecoms satellite, was launched into orbit.
Soon after, further steps were taken to develop the space sphere: in 2014, the Azersky remote Earth observation satellite was launched, and in 2018, the Azerspace-2 telecoms satellite was put into orbit.
Azerbaijan became the first space country in the region, a full member of the international ‘space club’.
The satellite operator Azercosmos has been operating as the Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2021 by order of President Ilham Aliyev. Today, the Agency is the official representative of the country on the world space arena.
Supporting national security, contributing to economic development
Satellites owned and operated by Azerbaijan serve the country’s information security and national statehood. The implementation of space satellite projects has completely eliminated Azerbaijan’s dependence on other countries in the space sector. The country has turned from an importer to an exporter of services in this field.
Satellites are a source of national pride as well as a commercial project.
Azercosmos has gained a unique position in the global and regional satellite services market, providing services to more than 200 customers from 50 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Central Asia through telecommunication satellites and space solutions. This serves to strengthen and develop the economy of Azerbaijan.
To date, Azerbaijan has earned more than AZN 550 million from telecommunication and optical satellite services. In 2023, loan commitments totalling US$206.2 million were fully repaid. Of these, US$116.6 million is for the production of Azerbaijan’s first telecoms satellite Azerspace-1 and US$89.6 million for orbital services.
Azerbaijan’s unique and favorable geographical location, existing stability and high rates of economic development have attracted the attention of global space companies. Italian, Japanese and Chinese companies have established ground infrastructure for business purposes in the country. Currently, the Main Ground Satellite Control Center of Baku Teleport serves about 20 ground stations belonging to various international companies.
The partnership between the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and Azercosmos in the expansion of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the work done on the placement of ground antennas at the Main Ground Satellite Control Center is a great success.
Azersky during the war and post-war period
In addition to telecommunications satellites, Azersky has also played an important role in protecting national security and bringing the truth about the country to the world community. The satellite regularly monitored fires in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan and assessed the damage caused. And the results of space monitoring of ore deposits located in the region were used to assess changes in the mining areas.
Azersky has also played an important role in the Azerbaijani Army’s victory in the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020. The satellite was used to monitor enemy movements and prevent enemy provocations.
The capabilities of the Azersky satellite were also widely used in determining the economic potential of the liberated territories in the post-war period.
As President Ilham Aliyev noted, “the use of satellites both during the war and after the war gave us a great advantage”.
Within the framework of the “State Program for the Development of Remote Monitoring Services for the Earth’s Surface by Satellite in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019–2022”, more than 400 projects were implemented in agriculture, ecology, urban planning, cadastre and other fields using satellite imagery. Among them were 137 research projects. Azersky’s services have been particularly useful in preparation of a map of crop plants in the agricultural area in the country, planting olive and hazelnut orchards, selecting suitable areas for the establishment of large bee farms, monitoring of irrigation of cotton fields and anomalies occurring during the growing season.
Finally, for three years already, by conducting space monitoring Azercosmos has prepared the annual “Report on Assessment of the Impact of Global Climate Change on the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
The role of satellites in national human resources management
With the launch of Azerspace-1, active training of engineers of various fields in the space industry and professional specialists in the operation of satellites began. The human potential of the country was formed in this sphere. At present, Azerbaijan is among the few countries that operate and maintain their satellites with their own personnel.
Today, the Research and Development Center operates under Azercosmos, which engages in innovative creativity. In order to strengthen the space ecosystem among young people, the center implements projects focused on innovation, research and development, as well as space awareness activities. Thousands of young people support the strengthening of the national space ecosystem in Azerbaijan through such activities.
A new page in the development of space industry
Azerbaijan has started implementation of another satellite project – the Azersky-2 satellite technology program. Within the framework of the program, it is planned to put into orbit two remote Earth observation satellites.
One of the most important points of the project is that it is planned to build a center for the production of modern spacecraft in Azerbaijan and prepare one of the two satellites in the country.
This is a great achievement and at the same time a new stage in the development of Azerbaijan’s space industry.
View of space from Baku
One of the most important events in the history of Azerbaijan’s space industry was the 74th International Astronautical Congress held in Baku in 2023.
The Baku Congress, which brought together space business, science and innovation opportunities in one concept, was attended by 5,404 participants from 132 countries. For the first time in the history of the Congress, representatives from 132 countries joined the event.
For the first time at the Baku Congress, round tables were held with representatives from the USA and Africa, and for the first time at the Baku Congress, 55 organizations simultaneously became members of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).
This prestigious and influential event held in Baku made a significant contribution to establishing closer ties between the space agency, companies and organizations, to accelerating the transfer of space technologies to the region, to developing human capital in this field, and to further strengthening Azerbaijan’s image as a space center of the region and a reliable partner in the international arena.
Azerbaijan’s space position
In 2023, Azerbaijan adopted the Law on Space Activities, and thus became one of the few countries to take this step. This law creates conditions for the promotion and dissemination of the benefits of space technology and the expansion of space activities in the country.
At the beginning of 2024, Azerbaijan achieved another success in the space sector. Among the countries with limited resources in geostationary orbit, it became famous for its unique orbital position. The C and Ku frequency bands of the orbital position 46° East, where the Azerspace-1 telecommunications satellite is located, already belong to Azerbaijan.
The successes achieved, as well as the planned work, prove that Azerbaijan has already become a regional center in the space sphere.
