Monday morning saw a new chapter of the conquest of space be
written as China launched a communications satellite for Nigeria, a
seemingly innocuous event which in fact represented the first such
launch for Africa and the inaugural space piggy-back ride given by
China to a foreign nation.
The carrier rocket, Long March 3-B, blasted off from Xichang
Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:01 Monday with reports
from the Xi'an Satellite Control Center confirming the satellite
had properly entered orbit.
The Nigerian Communication Satellite, or NIGCOMSAT-1, is a super
hybrid geo-stationary satellite designed to cover Africa, parts of
the Middle East and southern Europe.
The West African nation sent a high-level delegation to the
launch headed up by the Minister of Science and Technology, Turner
Isoun with the Nigeria Television Authority broadcasting the whole
launching process and ceremony live.
It is estimated that the satellite program's influence will be
far-reaching by revolutionizing Africa's access to
telecommunications, broadcasting and broadband services.
Employment will be a major beneficiary as the program could
create over 150,000 jobs in Nigeria, allow Internet access in
remote villages, and slash phone charges broadband costs by US$660
and US$95 million respectively.
The digital economy in Nigeria and across Africa will pick up as
the satellites play pivotal roles in e-commerce and in improving
state efficiency.
Hammed Rufai, managing director of the NIGCOMSAT-1 project, also
praised the satellite for hopefully helping Nigeria migrate from
its over-reliance on oil and progressively moved towards a
knowledge-based economy.
After fixing itself in orbit at a longitude of 42 degrees east,
the satellite should be activated by Nigeria and have a lifespan of
15 years. It will be tracked jointly by ground stations in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja, and the Chinese city of Kashgar.
China won the deal with Nigeria in 2004 after outbidding 21
international rivals to secure the US$311 million deal.
The satellite and carrier rocket, that were built in China and
purchased by Nigeria represent the 98th flight of China's Long
March rockets and were developed by the China Academy of Space
Technology and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
The successful project highlights China's wish to work with
developing countries in boldly and peacefully exploring space.
China has already signed several cooperative contracts offering
commercial launching services for foreign satellites, such as that
signed with Venezuela in November 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)
