June 25, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, June 24: Pakistan has sent a high level delegation to Germany for negotiating a satellite deal with American and European satellite operators after Turkey expressed its inability to do frequency coordination for the satellite, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, told Dawn.

Earlier, Pakistan had contacted Turkey to buy Anatolia 1 satellite and shift it from 50 E orbital slot, owned by Turkey, to 38 E orbital slot of Pakistan by February 2003.

The Hughes Global Services Company of the US has a major portion of shares in Anotolia 1.

Dr Atta-ur-Rehman said Pakistan had decided to buy two satellites, one to occupy the 38 E orbital slot and the other as a back-up option in the same slot.

“Pakistan is holding negotiations with Hughes of USA for Anatolia 1,” the minister said.

Investigations show the Anatolia 1 satellite, for which Pakistan is now directly negotiating with Hughes company of the US, has a troubled history.

Recently a government-funded think-tank in Islamabad had warned the government about buying the second hand Anatolia 1.

According to the user manual guide of Anatolia 1 of the Hughes Inc. available with Dawn, in November 1998, an anomaly precluded battery recharge after the eclipse. The satellite, according to the manual, is operable 24 hours/day outside eclipse and 20 plus hours/day during eclipse.

Industry sources said Anotolia 1 was first sold to Indonesia in 1996 which claimed insurance money after the satellite developed electrical problems. The satellite was resold to the Hughes company.

The satellite, which started life as Palapa C1, is a series 601 satellite, built by Boeing. It was launched on Jan 31, 1996, using an Atlas 2AS booster and was slotted at 150 degrees East after launching from Kourou in French Guiana.

The sources said Anotolia 1, three years after its launch, developed electrical problems when its Battery Charge Controller failed, leaving the satellite with no way to recharge its onboard batteries after an eclipse period.

The sources further said that its mission to provide telecommunications links to Indonesia was finished after less than three years.

Indonesia settled an insurance claim and the satellite ownership passed to the insurance company. In January 1999, Hughes Global Services purchased the satellite from the insurers, and it was renamed as HGS 3. The work was started to develop procedures that would have allowed the satellite a useful working life but the satellite still does not generate sufficient power to keep it running through the eclipse periods, the sources said.

In December 2000, Kalitel, which is a USA-based company, leased HGS 3 from Hughes and moved it to 50 degrees East.

The sources said a high-powered delegation, which has now left for negotiations with Hughes and another European company in Munich, comprises Chairman of National Telecommunication Company Air Vice Marshal Maud, Suparco chairman Major-Gen Raza, PTCL chairman Akhtar Bajwa, director of legal PTCL, Aslam Hayat, director of Frequency Allocation Board Captain Iftikhar and Adviser ot IT Division Salman Ansari.

The American and the European satellite operators had chosen Munich, Germany, as the venue for meeting, sources said.

When asked about the troubled history of Anotolia 1, the minister said the final decision on the choice of the satellites would be taken by the cabinet based on the recommendations of the PAKSAT committee.