Azerbaijan’s satellite operator, Azercosmos, has launched commercial exploitation of the resources of its second communications satellite, Azerspace-2.

Axar.az reports citing to the company.

Presently, the operator is negotiating with potential clients in countries within the coverage of its new satellite.

"Initial agreements were signed with several operators in the US, Pakistan and other countries. The projected revenue for the current year from the commercial sales of the satellite's services is $16.5 million. The lifetime of the satellite in orbit will be 20 years," the company said.

Azerspace-2 was launched with the Ariane 5 carrier rocket of Arianespace, a French company, on Sept. 26, 2018 from the launch platform ELA-3 in the Guiana Space Center.

The satellite is designed to provide a number of telecommunications services. Its service area includes the countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Azerspace-2 is located in the geostationary orbit at 45 degrees east longitude.

Azerspace-2 is a reserve satellite for the first satellite, Azerspace-1, and will enable Azercosmos to expand its geography of coverage and the range of services. Moreover, the second satellite will allow taking part in large international tenders, which was not possible before.

The first communications satellite of Azerbaijan, Azerspace-1, was launched into geostationary orbit at 46 degrees east longitude on Feb. 8, 2013. The satellite was launched from the Kourou space center by Arianespace.