‘We have asked the organisation to look into the feasibility of the planned satellite,’ said the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Defence, Idris Ali, after reviewing the activities of the SPARSO.
He said that the Awami League, during its 1996-2001 regime, took up a plan for launching a space satellite for enabling better telecommunication services, but the successive governments did not do anything about to implement it.
The plan remained on paper, he said, adding that the SPARSO, which is depending on other countries’ satellite for space research, should find out whether a space satellite dedicated to only Bangladesh is feasible.
Earlier, the post and telecommunications minister, Razi Uddin Ahmed, announced that his ministry was negotiating with a number of countries, including China, Germany and Russia, for getting technical support for the high-tech project.
The Chinese vice-president, Xi Jinpeng, during his visit to Dhaka last month promised to provide Bangladesh with technical support for launching the space satellite.
Bangladesh wants the satellite to improve telecommunication services, map natural resources, broadcast television programmes and obtain meteorological data for disaster warnings.
An official at the parliament secretariat said that the parliamentary panel suggested transferring of the SPARSO to the Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology from the Ministry of Defence as many foreign nations are reluctant to assist SPARSO because of its affiliation with the military.
The committee asked the defence secretary to prepare and submit a report in a month’s time.
The meeting also asked the government to fill the vacant posts of scientists at the SPARSO to make it a fully professional organization. Presently, 27 out of 94 posts for scientists are vacant, while many other researchers have been given only temporary appointment.
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