SOFIA (Bulgaria), April 21 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian telecommunications company Bulsatcom said on Friday its geostationary communications satellite, BulgariaSat-1 - the country's first - has successfully completed all major assembly and test procedures at Space Systems/Loral (SSL) in Palo Alto, California.

“We are now proceeding to the satellite’s shipment to the launch base,” Maxim Zayakov, CEO of Bulsatcom and its affiliate Bulgaria Sat, said in a statement. “Currently, we are at the stage of planning of launch window.”

Before preparations for shipment began, SSL and Bulgaria Sat technicians performed several final checks on BulgariaSat-1, including a test designed to simulate the satellite’s solar array deployments in the zero-gravity environment of space, final integration and test of the satellite’s reflectors, and other important tests to ensure that the satellite will perform nominally during its design life, according to the statement.

At the launch base in Cape Canaveral, Florida the satellite will be integrated into a SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket which will take it into orbit. BulgariaSat-1 will be positioned into orbit at 36,000 km above the Earth, providing television and communication services covering the Balkans and other European regions. Within 30 days of the launch, the satellite will be operationally ready to broadcast a large number of high quality TV programmes to end-users.

Bulsatcom is a leading telecommunications company and the largest pay-TV services provider in Bulgaria.