DHAKA, June 7 (NsNewsWire) — The Bangladeshi government has been preparing for launching the country’s second satellite following the successful placement of the first one last month, reports Xinhua.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the announcement during a question-answer session at the parliament on Wednesday.

She said preparations are underway for the country’s second communication satellite “Bangabandhu-2.”

“We need to have second satellite so that it can replace the first one when it becomes obsolete. And we’ve to prepare from now on as the process for a satellite takes at least five to six years to complete.”

She said Bangladesh will go for “Bangabandhu-3” after the second one.

May 12 this year is a red-letter day for Bangladesh when the country ushered in a new era by launching its first “Bangabandhu-1” satellite.

The launch made Bangladesh the 57th nation in the world and fourth in South Asia after India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to own a satellite.

In September 2016, Bangladesh signed a 14-billion-taka (about 180 million U.S. dollars) loan agreement with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) to finance the country’s first-ever satellite “Bangabandhu-I.”

In November 2015, Bangladesh signed a 19.51-billion-taka (about 248 million U.S. dollars) deal with French firm Thales Alenia Space for the satellite project.

The Bangladeshi government has purchased a 119.1 east longitude orbital slot from Russia-based Intersputnik for 15 years for 28 million U.S. dollars.