Ukraine to launch telecom satellite in 2013

KIEV, UKRAINE: Ukraine plans to launch its first telecommunications satellite in 2013, an official said.

"The satellite will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2013," head of the country's State Space Agency Yury Alexeyev told reporters on Friday, adding that the pay-off period of the satellite was between seven to eight years.

The project, which has cost $292 million, is financed with a 10-year loan from Canada, Alexeyev said.

He said that the satellite was being mounted in Russia's southern city of Krasnoyarsk, reported Xinhua.

The satellite would be launched by Ukrainian missile "Zenit" at the country's Baikonur Cosmodrome. It could offer telecommunications services for countries in Central Asia and North Africa.