Afghanistan to launch first ever satellite

KABUL - The post-Taliban Afghanistan will launch the first-ever space satellite within six months, a local newspaper said on Monday.

"Afghanistan's first ever-space satellite will be launched within the next six months,"Daily Outlook quoted Afghan Minister for Communication and Information Technology Amir Zai Sangin as saying.

The new satellite will give Afghanistan a greater connection to the world, Sangin said, adding that the move would enable Afghan television channels and radio stations to slash their transmission costs.

An international company would launch the satellite, the newspaper said.

Afghanistan has made remarkable progress in the field of communication over the past decade as the number of local television channels has reached 75 and that of radio stations has exceeded 160. Meanwhile, the number of mobile phone subscribers in Afghanistan has exceeded 15 million, according to Afghan officials.

However, only 1.5 million people of the country's nearly 26 million population have access to the Internet and over 40 Internet companies are operating in the country.