BAGHDAD, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi government is planning to build its first satellite and establish its own space agency in coordination with France, an official newspaper reported on Tuesday.
"The Iraqi Ministry of Communications is coordinating with the government of France to implement the two projects of the Iraqi satellite and Iraqi space agency," state-run al-Sabah newspaper quoted Ameer al-Bayati, the ministry's under-secretary, as saying.
The Iraqi government has agreed on a loan from the French government for implementing the two projects, al-Bayati told the newspaper.
He said that the Iraqi ministry has coordinated with Airbus, the European multinational aerospace corporation, to provide one-year training to qualify Iraqi technicians to run the project, the newspaper reported.
The satellite will serve civil and security purposes, al-Bayati said, adding that the Iraqi ministry agreed with some French companies to sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at providing technical and legal expertise to Iraq.
