China is to build and put into orbit a satellite for Nigeria, to
be launched in early 2007, the China Great Wall Industry
Corporation said.
The planned communication satellite, NIGCOMSAT-1, will mark a
breakthrough in China's international commercial space program with
the country becoming both a manufacturer and launcher of satellites
for foreign customers, Great Wall President Wang Haibo told a press
conference in Beijing Friday.
Since 1990, China has carried out 24 commercial launches for
overseas customers, placing 30 satellites in space, he said.
But according to Wang, up to now China has only manufactured
satellite components for other countries, never an entire
satellite.
"The successful delivery of NIGCOMSAT-1 will rank us among the
very few in the world capable of providing a satellite manufacture,
launch and servicing package," said Wang, adding that design and
production of the satellite, its launch vehicle and ground stations
were well on course.
Based on the DFH-4, China's latest satellite platform,
NIGCOMSAT-1 has just undergone a preliminary design review.
The project will enable the Great Wall company, the sole
authorized satellite launch service provider in China, to secure a
greater share of the international market, Wang said.
In addition to launching NIGCOMSAT-1 into orbit using a Long
March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
southwestern Sichuan
Province, China will also train technicians and build a ground
station in Nigeria.
According to Ahmed Rufai, the Nigerian satellite program
director, the partnership with China is "mutually beneficial," and
contributes to diversifying the African nation's monolithic economy
from being resource-based to knowledge- and service-based.
The African country started the NIGCOMSAT-1 program in November
2003, and opened the project to international bidders, Rufai
said.
China landed the contract last December by beating 21 companies
from countries including the US, France, the UK, Italy and Israel,
Wang said.
This is largely because the China Great Wall Industry
Corporation had a "superlative proposal," with its technical
capability and expertise well meeting Nigeria's stringent
performance requirements, said George Nawar, a manager of Telesat
Canada -- NIGCOMSAT-1 program's technical consultant.
"In terms of overall performance, the satellite will be on a par
with other international advanced satellites," Wang said.
The satellite will be manufactured by the Chinese Academy of
Space Technology (CAST) and
will carry 28 transponders to cover the whole of sub-Saharan
Africa, addressing its needs for telephony, broadcasting,
direct-to-home television, Internet and other services, said Zhou
Zhicheng, chief designer of the DFH-4 satellite platform.
The satellite is designed with a mission life of 15 years and
weighs about 5,100 kilograms, Zhou said.
Apart from building a satellite for Nigeria, China is using the
same DFH-4 platform to construct a domestic telecommunication
satellite, Sinosat-II, which will be placed into orbit next year,
Wang said.
At the end of last year, Chinese satellite developers also
signed a contract with APT Satellite Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong to
launch APSTAR 6B, Wang said. He did not specify when the satellite
would be launched.
(China Daily July 2, 2005)