Dec 07, Colombo: Opposition Leader of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremasinghe has asked the government to clarify the satellite orbit slots used by Sri Lanka's Supreme SAT-1 and China's China Sat 12 Communication Satellite.

Wickremasinghe has made a special statement in parliament under Standing Orders on the contradictory statements about the China Sat 12 Communication Satellite launched into the orbit recently.

He has asked whether China was using Satellite Orbit slots allocated to Sri Lanka.

He has noted that the local media had announced the launch of Sri Lanka's Supreme SAT-1 whereas the foreign media had announced the launch of a satellite called China Sat 12 Communication Satellite by China.

COM DEV International Ltd announced that on November 28, the ChinaSat 12 communication satellite was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan China, the same satellite launching center that launched the SupremeSAT-1 on November 27.

Wickremasinghe has pointed out that the constitution of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) makes provision for the allocation of Satellite orbit slots to be registered with the ITU and that Sri Lanka is also entitled to such slots.

"The media does not specify whether China SAT 12 Communication Satellite is utilizing a slot allocated to China or Sri Lanka," he has said.

According to Wickremasinghe, SupremeSAT (Pvt) Limited, which is a Board of Investment (BoI) company, had entered into an agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation to co-brand this satellite as SupremeSAT-1 and has asked the government to make a detailed statement on this matter.

The Opposition Leader has requested the government to give details about the satellite orbit slots allocated to Sri Lanka, the system followed in selecting a party for the country's satellite project, the total cost for SupremeSAT-1, the shareholders and directors of SupremeSAT (Pvt) Ltd.