Join the space race!
In response to Azad Miah's letter titled "Join the space race", I wish to inform him that I'm a British Bangladeshi aerospace engineer (more specifically with roots from Noakhali) with experience working on rocket engine design and development for a NASA subcontractor as well as consulting experience leading a project for the European Space Agency and a MSc from the International Space University.
In 2001 I completed an "initial market assessment" on a proposed telecommunications satellite and I'm pleased to say I saved the government from a $300+ million disaster. It turned out that the individuals pushing for this project were only trying to secure their commission from a multi-million dollar deal, irrespective of the expense to the treasury. The country wasn't ready for a telecom satellite then, albeit the terrestrial infrastructure has improved dramatically since 2001 and now is a different story.
In 2005, I visited Bangladesh for three and half months at my own expense to lobby with SPARRSO and the Ministry of Defence to pursue a remote sensing satellite project and although the SPARRSO chairman and honourable Secretary of Defence agreed to pursue this project, we could not secure approval. I returned to Bangladesh in 2006 and convinced the new Secretary of Defence to engage in this project. Again he agreed but the last BNP government were about to leave office and thus the project stumbled. We could do nothing during the rule of the caretaker government as they were too busy otherwise.
I've been told by some officials, who incidentally have been really helpful, that now is not the right time. I've also been told that a poor country has other priorities but my initial calculations show that a proposed Bangladesh satellite can generate large amounts of income and retain highly qualified graduates as a result of this investment. In fact, my figures show that an investment would actually pay off and generate profit for the treasury.
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