Azercosmos and Intelsat have chosen Arianespace to launch the Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 telecommunication satellite. The satellite will be launched by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana in 2017. Azerspace-2 will support growing demand for Direct-to-Home (DTH), government, and network services in Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa from its position in the geostationary arc. Azerspace-2 is being built by US-based Canadian-owned manufacturer, Space Systems Loral.
Azerspace-1, the telecommunication satellite already operated by Azercosmos was launched in February 2013 and is equipped with 36 transponders: 24 in C-band and 12 in Ku-band at 46 degrees East longitude. In December 2014, Azercosmos took over the rights to operate and commercialize Azersky, high resolution (1.5m imagery products) optical Earth observation satellite, and entered into the commercial business of Earth observation services, including Geo-Information services.
