During October 2015, Azercosmos, the state-owned satellite operator of Azerbaijan, ordered the construction of its new communications satellite, Azerspace-2, from the US-based spacecraft manufacturer, Space Systems/Loral. The spacecraft will carry a payload of transponders to provide direct broadcasting and other communications services to Azerbaijan and other nations in Asia, the Middle East and Africa from its orbital location over 45 degrees East in the geostationary orbital arc.
The Azerspace-2 spacecraft which is also known as Intelsat 38 given that some of its payload will be taken by Intelsat as part of a joint ownership arrangement, will use the Space Systems Loral SSL-1300 bus design and will be launched in 2017. While Space Systems/Loral is US-based, it is a subsidiary of the Canadian spacecraft manufacturer MDA. As such, the above deal was also sweetened with a clause allowing the supply of radar technology to Azercosmos by MDA.
After the construction order was announced, on 26 October 2015 Arianespace was confirmed as the launch provider to receive the launch order for the spacecraft (the formal signing of the agreement was later announced in December 2015). The spacecraft will be launched by an Ariane 5 ECA in late 2017 or early 2018.
