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HONG KONG (BNS): China will launch a dedicated telecommunication satellite for Pakistan in 2011. A contract for the project was signed in the presence of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing.

Zardari is on a state visit to China, Pakistan’s all-weather friend and strategic partner.

The China Great Wall Industry Corporation, the chief contractor for the satellite, said on Thursday that PakSat-1R would be launched using the Long March 3B rocket. The launch will be from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the Sichuan province in southwest of the communist nation.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the ground control facilities for the satellite will be delivered to the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission after the satellite enters its orbit.

The satellite will have a life of 15 years, and it would be used by Pakistan for its domestic telecommunication and broadcasting purposes, the agency reported. Xinhua noted that this would be the third time China has delivered a satellite to another country. In 2007, two satellites were sent to Nigeria.