Nigeria gets communications satellite on Friday

5th JULY 2007

Nigerians will soon begin to savour the benefits of the recently launched Nigerian Communications Satellite (NICOMSAT1) as feelers from the sector indicate that Chinese experts who built the satellite have concluded the In-Orbit-Test (IOT), which they are to officially hand over to the Federal Government on Friday, July 6.

The satellite was launched on May 14 this year from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) aboard a Long March 3B launch vehicle in China. This is the first time China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) would deliver a satellite, launch services and ground system as a package to an international customer. The Chinese from the state-owned aerospace company, had been in Nigeria for the one-month In-orbit-Test, a kind of 'health check' to ensure that the satellite works well.

The In-Orbit-Test (IOT), a series of measurements carried out to verify performance parameters of the satellite began on June 1 and ended on June 28. Managing Director of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, Ahmed Rufai, told newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday that with the successful completion of the series of tests, the Chinese company would formally hand over the satellite to Nigeria on Friday.

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