Bangladesh's first satellite launch delayed due to Hurricane Irma

Dhaka, Sept 14: The launch of Bangladesh’s first satellite Bangabandhu-1 in Cape Caveral, Florida, has been delayed due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, officials have said. “The Cape Caveral launch pad in Florida is currently ictive due to the adverse weather. It was due to launch satellites of South Korea and Bulgaria but those dates have been cancelled,” a report in bdnews24.com quoted Director of the satellite project Mohammad Mesbahuzzaman, as saying on Wednesday. The hurricane hit Florida on Sunday causing huge devastation and left more than 3.4 million people without electricity. Bangladesh was preparing to launch Bangabandhu-1 on December 16, the Victory Day, this year using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at the Florida launch pad. “It takes two months to prepare the pad for launching any satellite using the SpaceX facility. The date previously fixed for Bangladesh now seems to be uncertain as schedule of two other satellites has been changed,” Mesbahuzzaman said. (IANS)