simec-group

Mail: info@simecresearch.com

Research Article

Back to Research Home

Investing in Space Program for Making a New Bangladesh

Most. Farjana Sharmin

ID

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv1i3_0003

Pages: 12-14

Keywords: Doctoral candidate, Department of International Relations, South Asian University, New Delhi.

Abstract

Bangladesh’s closest neighbor, India, is the fifth space power of the world; it has brought incredible socio-economic development through space-based technologies and programs (Duchaine, 2023). Pakistan launched its communication satellite, Badr-1, in the 1990s (Zafar & Zafar, 2022), and Sri Lanka launched its first satellite in 2018. Other South Asian states, namely Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives, have also started investing in space programs (Lele, 2022). When India and Pakistan have civil and military interests in investing in space programs, other states mostly do it for civilian purposes. For a long time, Bangladesh remained dependent on space-faring countries’ satellite services support, including telecommunications and broadcasting.

Although Bangladesh’s first space researchrelated government organization, Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO), was established in 1980, its focus remains limited to remote sensing, and it collaborates with international and regional space organizations. Bangladesh has recently taken the initiative to invest in space programs as an aspiring space-faring state. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission – a state agency– started working on launching a communication satellite in April 2008.

References

African Union (2019) “African Space Strategy for Social, Political and Economic Integration,”
https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/37434-doc-au_space_strategy_isbnelectronic.pdf.

Babu, M. U. (2023) Govt keen to award Airbus Bangabandhu Satellite-2 project, The Business Standard.
https://www.tbsnews.net/tech/ict/govtkeen-award-airbus-bangabandhusatellite-2-project-698222

Bangabandhu satellite-1 to be used to restore telecommunication in flood-hit areas, Prothom Alo.
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/
bangabandhu-satellite-1-to-be-used-torestore-telecommunication-in-flood-hitareas

Deal for country’s second Satellite in three months, (May, 12, 2024). The Daily Star,
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/deal-countrys-second-satellite-threemonths-3608421

Duchaine, D. (2023) Enter India, the fifth great space power. The Space Review.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4702/1

Hasan, M. (30 October, 2024) Door may open for Starlink, other soon, The Daily Star,
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/door-may-open-starlink-others-soon3740041

Lele, A. (2022). Space Programs, Policies, and Diplomacy in South Asia. In S. Ganguly & F. O’Donnell. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of the International Relations of South Asia (pp. 454-469). Routledge.

Nyeem, H. (2022). Bangabandhu satellite-1: A remarkable feat of a nation (No. tkdj9). Center for Open Science.

Remote islands to get high-speed Internet via Bangabandhu Satellite, 2020, The Financial Express,
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/
remote-islands-to-get-high-speedinternet-via-bangabandhu-satellite1596881885

Sharmin, M.F. (2023) Bangladesh’s Achievements and Limitations, Centre for Governance Studies, https://cgsbd.com/article/21320/
Bangladesh%27sAchievements-and-Limitations

Zafar, M. A., & Zafar, A. (2022). Devising National Space Policy in Pakistan. Æther: A Journal of Strategic Airpower & Spacepower, 1(4),49-62.

Published

01/01/2025

How to Cite

Sharmin, M.F. (2025). Investing in Space Program for Making a New Bangladesh. SIMEC Bulletin, 1(3), 12-14. https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv1i3_0003

Sharmin, M. F. 2025. “Investing in Space Program for Making a New Bangladesh.” SIMEC Bulletin 1, no. 3: 12–14. https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv1i3_0003

M. F. Sharmin, “Investing in Space Program for Making a New Bangladesh,” SIMEC Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 12–14, 2025. doi: 10.71391/sbv1i3_0003.

Sharmin, M. F. “Investing in Space Program for Making a New Bangladesh.” SIMEC Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 3, 2025, pp. 12–14. https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv1i3_0003

License

SIMEC Bulletin

2025, Vol. 1(3), 12-14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv1i3_0003

ISSN: 3006-211X (online);

3006-2101 (print)

@ This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Journal Indexing