SPARRSO

The Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO) is the national space science organization of Bangladesh, headquartered in Dhaka and established in 1980 under the Ministry of Defence — serving as Bangladesh's primary government institution for space technology application, remote sensing research, and satellite data utilization for socioeconomic development programs in agriculture, forestry, disaster management, and urban planning.

SPARRSO's founding mission in 1980 positioned it during the era when remote sensing from Landsat 1-3 satellites was transforming developing country resource management, and Bangladesh — a low-lying, flood-prone delta nation acutely vulnerable to climate-related disasters — had compelling use cases for satellite-based monitoring. The organization operates ground receiving stations that downlink data from multiple satellite systems, processing imagery for flood mapping (Bangladesh experiences annual monsoon flooding affecting millions), agricultural crop assessment (satellite-derived crop area estimation and yield forecasting), coastline change monitoring (critical in the Bay of Bengal where cyclone storm surge reshapes the Sundarban mangroves and coastal settlements), and urban expansion monitoring around Dhaka.

Bangladesh's most significant space milestone came with the launch of Bangabandhu-1 in May 2018 — the country's first geostationary communications satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space on a Spacebus 4000-B2 platform and launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center. Bangabandhu-1 operates at 119.1°E longitude with Ku-band and C-band transponders providing telecommunications, DTH television, and broadband internet capacity across Bangladesh, India, and parts of South and Southeast Asia — marking Bangladesh's entry into the club of satellite-owning nations and providing capacity for domestic telecommunications infrastructure.

SPARRSO manages liaison with international space organizations including ISRO (accessing Resourcesat and Cartosat data), ESA (Sentinel data through the Copernicus program), and JAXA (ALOS data), and trains Bangladeshi scientists in remote sensing techniques, GIS analysis, and satellite data processing. The organization coordinates with Bangladesh's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission on satellite spectrum matters and contributes technical expertise to Bangladesh's engagement with UN COPUOS.