Saudi Arabian communications satellite to be launched by Russian rocket

In autumn, Saudi Arabia will launch a communications satellite with the help of a Russian missile carrier, said prince Turki bin Saud, director of the country's institute of space research, in an interview with a Ukaz local newspaper. He said that it would be the Saudi Arabian third satellite launched by the Roskosmos space agency from Baikonur, Russia's space-vehicle launching site on the territory of Kazakhstan. The new satellite will be connected to the information system, which already includes two Saudi Arabian satellites, costing $1 million each, the prince said. Eighteen months ago another Persian Gulf country, the United Arab Emirates, launched a heavy communications satellite "Suraja", weighing more than 1 ton, with the help of a Russian-Ukrainian rocket from a sea platform.