XICHANG, China -
China early Monday launched a communications
satellite for Nigeria, the first of its kind in
Africa and the first time a foreign buyer has
purchased a Chinese satellite and its launching
service.
The carrier rocket, Long March
3-B, blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch
Center in southwestern China's Sichuan province at
12:01am on Monday, and the northwestern Xian
Satellite Control center said the satellite had
entered orbit accurately.
The Nigerian
Communication Satellite, or NIGCOMSAT-1, is a
super-hybrid geostationary
satellite designed to operate over Africa, parts
of the Middle East, and southern Europe.
The Nigerian government delegation present
at the launching ceremony here included the
minister of science and technology and several
other high-ranking officials.
The entire
launching process and the ceremony was broadcast
live from China by the Nigeria Television
Authority.
Experts estimate that the
satellite program will revolutionize
telecommunications, broadcasting and broadband
multimedia services in Africa. It will create more
than 150,000 jobs for Nigerians and save broadband
users more than US$95 million a year, as well as
providing Internet access to remote rural villages
and saving more than $660 million in phone-call
charges.
It is also expected to play key
roles in e-commerce, improving government
efficiency and promoting the development of the
digital economy in Nigeria and throughout the
entire African continent.
Hammed Rufai,
managing director of the NIGCOMSAT-1 project, said
the satellite would help Nigeria break free from
its over-reliance on oil trade and transform
itself into a knowledge-based economy.
A
Nigerian space official earlier described the
launch of the NIGCOMSAT-1 as "a monumental
achievement for Nigerians" and "a beginning of
economic and technological emancipation" of the
entire African continent, Nigeria's Business Day
reported last week.
The satellite will
change positions in orbit until it is finally
fixed at a longitude of 42 degrees east. It is
expected to be put into use by Nigeria before the
end of the year and has a life span of 15 years.
The satellite will be monitored and
tracked by a ground station to be built in Abuja,
the capital of Nigeria, by Chinese firm Great Wall
Industry Corp, and a ground station in Kashgar, in
northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region.
The satellite's ground facility in
Abuja "has the potential of making Nigeria a major
traffic hub in the West and Central African
region" and will prompt Nigeria and neighboring
countries to "expand their switching facilities to
be able to handle international traffic",
according to a Nigerian communication official.
The Chinese company will offer support
services and training for Nigerian technicians.
China was awarded the deal in 2004 after
it outbid 21 international rivals to secure the
$311 million project.
The satellite and
carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy
of Space Technology and China Academy of Launch
Vehicle Technology, both under the China Aerospace
Science and Technology Corp.
The launch
represents the 98th flight of China's Long March
series of rockets.
The satellite
represents China's wish to cooperate with
developing countries in the peaceful use of outer
space and to promote a closer relationship between
China and African countries, observers say.
China has signed several cooperative
contracts offering commercial launching services
for foreign satellites, said an official on space
development, citing a similar satellite contract
with Venezuela in November 2005 and adding that
China has been commissioned to send about 30
foreign satellites into space.
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