Azercosmos, Italian Leaf Space to install ground control station in Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani satellite operator Azercosmos and Italian Leaf Space, a leading provider of ground segment as-a-service (GSaaS) solutions, signed a long-term commercial partnership to leverage synergies in the space sector, including the installation of a ground station at Azercosmos' Main Ground Control Station, Azernews reports.

The new 3.7-meter S/X-band terrestrial antenna will provide an expanded opportunity to communicate with, and monitor, the status of spacecraft, including critical data processing, transmission, telemetry, and control between satellite networks.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Azercosmos to support their growing presence in space while also expanding our already robust global network of ground stations by adding an antenna in Azerbaijan,” Leaf Space's CEO and co-founder Jonata Puglia said.

Moreover, with the addition of this new ground station, Leaf Space will support Azercosmos throughout the entire lifecycle of its satellite operations, beginning with the launch and early operations (LEOP), ongoing mission operations, and extending through decommissioning of the space asset.

“This long-term agreement between Azercosmos and Leaf Space is an essential step toward future sustainable development of space-related activities between our companies and signals a larger Azerbaijani-Italian bilateral strategic partnership,” Azercosmos Vice-Chairman Fuad Aslanov said.

Established in 2010, Azercosmos is the only satellite operator in the South Caucasus region and provides high-quality satellite services for telecommunications and geographic intelligence.

Azercosmos along with Azerspace-1, Azerspace-2, and Azersky satellites, facilitates the reception of signals from satellites of other satellite operators via a fiber-optic network.