Nigeria relaunches Satellite, remaking space adventure history
Date December 19, Time: 5pm…Nigeria will be rewriting technological history as the nation joins the league of satellite technology host in the space. The replaced satellite, NigComSat-1R, will be launched into the orbit once again after an old one de-orbited in 2008.
The launch will take place in Xichang, China, on Monday, December 19 by 5.00 p.m. Nigerian time, that is 00:01 hrs Eastern Time in China. China is seven hours ahead of Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan has directed NigComSat Ltd through the Minister of Communications Technology to work in collaboration with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to beam the event live on television from China across to Nigeria.
The planned launch comes three years after the first communication satellite was deorbited in year 2008.
The new satellite is to be blasted off at no cost to the government and that is becauseNIGCOMSAT 1 was fully insured prior to its first launch.
Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology Omobolaji Johnson last month told reporters in the Nigerian capital Abuja that the new satellite is a replacement of NIGCOMSAT1 which was deorbited in 2008.
She added that NIGCOMSAT 1R will complement the efforts of the ministry of communications technology to roll out assisting infrastructure both in rural, semi urban and urban areas.
It has been widely reported that the new launch will address Nigeria’s homeland security challenge as well as enhance communication among security agencies.
However, pessimists are holding the opinion that the landmark exercise may remain another effort in futility where in infrastructural development are concerned, expressing fears that the Nigerian jinx factor may set in.
Delegates at the stakeholders’ conference and exhibition on the satellite recently at the end of the three-day conference in Lagos, had urged government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to take advantage of NigComSat-1R to enable seamless connectivity in information flow within government circle.
They submitted that the hybrid satellite will aid law enforcement agencies in their quest to battle crime as well as provide navigational services for the aviation and maritime industries.
The communiqué highlighted the importance of the satellite in boosting broadband penetration as well as the business opportunities it will offer when launched.
A draft of the communiqué states: “The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Immigration and Police Force should begin to make adequate preparation to leverage on the opportunities of NigComSat-1R in combating border crimes.
“The 102 Response Centres created by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), will be highly enhanced by the NigComSat-1R.
“NigComSat-1R will provide better communication means for providing adequate security in the country.
“Communications satellite services as will be provided by NigComSat-1R will boost job creation and technological innovation among Nigerians.”
Noting that delivering basic health care and education to remote and sparsely populated regions has become an almost insoluble challenge, the delegates assured that the launch of NigComSat-1R will provide much-needed bandwidth to take these services across the country.
They added that the launch of NigComSat-1R will allow opportunity of a mutual-benefit partnership. “The satellite will locally aggregate local and international content using microwave, and then multiplexing the signals before uplink is done,” they explained.
NigComSat-1, which was de-orbited November 10, 2008, after it was successfully launched in 2007.
However, Minister of Communication Technology Omobolaji Johnson revealed that the satellite will have no immediate implication on the reduction of the cost of internet in the country as that depends on the increase of satellite resources available to the country.
“As we increase the fibre optic, microwaves and the satellite resources, we can bring down the cost of internet in the country, but it will not happen as a result of the satellite launch on December 19,” Johnson said.
The Council was also briefed by the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Ewa, on the proposed science policy which is aimed at commercialising research work in the country.
Related Posts
Short URL: http://www.emnnews.com/?p=25554
Posted by 
This is a good news for Nigeria technology. If we can continue with this improvement and work closely with the advance countries, we’ll improve in technology.