China and France are competing to launch a multi-million dollar communications satellite for the telecommunications authorities of Singapore and Taiwan.
European satellite-maker Matra Marconi Space yesterday said it had won a US$240 million contract from Singapore Telecom and the Directorate General of Telecommunications in Taiwan to supply the complete ST-1 satellite system.
The contract includes a satellite to be put in orbit in two years, ground control stations in Singapore and Taipei, and a training and support package for the two.
Matra Marconi Space chairman and chief executive Armand Carlier said Taiwan and Singapore, along with the company, would decide within three months whether China or France would launch the satellite.
China's chances depended on the outcome of investigations into the February explosion of one of its satellite-carrying Long March rockets.