The Bangabandhu-1 (BD-1) is the first Bangladeshi geostationary communications satellite. It was launched on May 11, 2018. The project is being implemented by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and was the first payload launched by a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.

The Bangabandhu-1 satellite is expected to be located at the 119.1° East longitude geostationary slot. It is named after the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

It is designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and its launch provider is SpaceX. The total cost of the satellite was projected to be 248 million US dollars in 2015 (Tk 19.51 billion). Bangabandhu Satellite-1 carries a total of 40 Ku-band and C-band transponders with a capacity of 1600 megahertz and a predicted life span of 15 years.

The satellite will expand Ku-band coverage over all of Bangladesh and its nearby waters including the Bay of Bengal, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This is coupled with C-band coverage for all aforementioned areas.

The satellite's lifespan is expected to exceed 15 years. The satellite was financed via a $188.7 million loan from HSBC Holdings plc.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 was launched at 4:14pm May 11, 2018 EDT, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It is the first payload to be launched using the new Block 5 model of the rocket.

The satellite was originally slated to launch May 10, 2018. However, the rocket carrying the payload triggered an automatic abort as it entered internal power and control at T-58 seconds. Soon after, the rocket launch was pushed back 24 hours, and it was finally launched on May 11, 2018.

Bangabandhu-1 had been previously scheduled to fly on an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA but Ariane was unable to meet the contractual launch date, which enabled the launch to be switched to its backup launcher, SpaceX.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Mission Live Video Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Mission, SpaceX.