Executives from Tunisian company Telnet and from GK Launch Services at the signing of their contract in Tunis on 1 April 2019. Photograph courtesy of Telnet.
Tunisia’s Telnet Group and Russian commercial launch provider GK Launch Services signed a contract on 1 April 2019 for the launch of the Challenge One satellite on board a Russian Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle integrated with the Fregat upper stage in 2020.
The signing ceremony was chaired by Mr. Mohamed Frikha, CEO of Telnet Group, and Mr. Alexander V. Serkin, CEO of GK Launch Services, and was held at the Sfax Digital Research Centre in Tunisia.
Challenge One is a scientific research and innovation project offering new concepts in information technologies and their practical applications. The results of the Challenge One in-orbit operation will be used for building a future constellation of 30 communication satellites.
One year after the first announcement of the satellite project, Telnet presented the achievements of its designers during the first public in-lab demonstration of the Challenge One satellite.
An agreement on cooperation in the field of aerospace research and development between the Telnet Group and the Digital Research Centre of Sfax was also signed during the event.
Telnet, founded in 1994 and certified ISO9001 and TL9000, is a group of companies in software, mechanical, and electronic product engineering. The group offers nearshore and offshore consulting, research and development services, and expertise in telecoms, multimedia, energy, payment solutions, and aerospace.
GK Launch Services is an operator of commercial launches. The company was established by Roscosmos, the Russian state space corporation, and is authorised to conclude commercial contracts for the launch of spacecraft using the Soyuz-2 family launch vehicles from Russian spaceports.