Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said the Bangabandhu-1 satellite is no longer owned by the Bangladesh government.

Fakhrul claimed that the ownership of the Bangladesh flag carrying satellite had been transferred “to two people,” but did not provide their names, reports the bdnews24.com.

BNP general secretary made the remarks during a meeting at the National Press Club on Saturday afternoon while he was responding to the ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s criticism over BNP’s silence regarding the success of the satellite.

“Do you know it [the Bangabandhu-1 satellite] has already been sold? It is now owned by two persons and you will have to pay them for this service,” Fakhrul said to the reporters.

On the other hand, the government says it believes the Tk30 billion project under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC will be able to earn significant revenue.

Bangladesh blasted into the space age with the successful launch of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite by SpaceX at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral at 2:14am Bangladesh time on Saturday.