Thuraya to launch second satellite ahead of schedule

The Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co plans to launch its second satellite by 2002, ahead of schedule, in anticipation of the growth in mobile subscribers as Thuraya goes commercial next year.
"The original business plan was to launch the second satellite by the end of 2003 or beginning of 2004, but if the market takes up, and we need the second satellite orbit for back-up, we'll launch it at the earliest in 2002," said Yousuf Abdullah Al Sayed, chief executive of Thuraya.
They are expecting up to 460,000 mobile satellite subscribers in the first year of operation, most of whom will be national roamers and those who require cellular extension such as those who can afford to subscribe to GSM but have no coverage in the area.
The Thuraya mobile phones, to be sold to service providers at $600 each, are expected to give subscribers the freedom to roam with uninterrupted service in 99 Asian, Middle East, African and European countries.
At the moment, Thuraya has service provider agreements with 26 countries and roaming agreements with 60 GSM operators.
By March it hopes to conclude 35 service provider agreements and 100 roaming service agreements.
The first Thuraya satellite was launched on October 21, paving the way for commercial operation in March.
"We will open the solar panel on November 1 which will be followed by the two large L-band reflectors. Both are major steps towards acquiring normal operation conditions," Al Sayed said.
"The first test call will be on November 15, then the next will be a system test which will check on the satellite's performance, functional status according to specification which will be around two to three months."