Nigeria’s NIGCOMSAT-1 ceases operations

NIGCOMSAT-1, a giant Chinese-built Nigerian Communications satellite, launched amid pomp and fanfare last year, has ceased functioning, in what has been attributed to power failure.

Great Wall Industry Corp, the company that sent the satellite into orbit last May, reported yesterday that the satellite ceased functioning on Tuesday morning.

“The solar wing malfunctioned and this led to exhaustion of electric power, after which the satellite failed,” said Geng Kun, the spokeswoman for Great Wall Industry Corpsent, which launched the satellite into orbit atop a Long March 3-B rocket.

Most satellites carry solar panels on an extendable wing to generate electricity, with backup batteries activated only when in the earth’s shadow.

Built by the China Academy of Space Technology as part of a $311 million deal signed by the Asian country and Nigeria in 2004, the giant satellite was launched in 2007, with an intention of expanding cell phone and Internet services in central Africa.

The deal was the first in which a foreign buyer had purchased both a Chinese satellite and its launching service.

An official with Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd, who also confirmed the latest developments regarding the satelite, said that technicians were working to diagnose the exact problem with its solar panel.

“It will take a bit longer for the satellite to be fixed, but we remain hopeful. For now, it has been placed in an emergency operating mode to enable the technical work to continue,” he said.

China has built up a lucrative satellite launching industry, in part by catering to developing nations.

Last month, Venezuela’s Chinese-made Simon Bolivar Satellite was launched from the Xichang base in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.

It is scheduled to begin carrying radio, television and other data transmissions in early 2009 after three months of tests.

ITNewsAfrica.com, Nigeria