The deal with state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) includes the satellite, control facilities and launching service, Hoang Minh Thong, a government satellite expert, said at a press conference.

In April 2008, Vietnam launched a rocket from South America to propel its first orbiter into space. So far, more than 80 percent of the capacity of Vinasat-1 has been used, officials said.

The satellite transmits telecommunications and television signals.

Vietnam expects to fully recover its investment in the first satellite by 2018, a year earlier than scheduled, said Lam Cuoc Cuong, director of the Vinasat Centre which markets the satellite service.

Vinasat-2 is expected to operate for 15 years and will help transmit television, radio and civil aviation signals to remote regions of the country. It will also be used as a backup satellite for the first one, officials said.

Vietnam has registered a total of seven orbital positions, meaning it could potentially launch seven satellites, they said.

Vinasat-2 will be delivered in about two years, with the launch some time after that, the officials said.

Communist Vietnam's development of mobile and fixed-line telephones as well as Internet and broadband is outpacing other Asian countries, a senior United Nations official said last year.

Vietnam is still a largely rural-based society whose per capita income is about 1,000 dollars. But it is rapidly modernising and aims to become an industrialised nation by 2020.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News