Loss Of Nigerian Communication Satellite Matters Arising
Nigerian satellite 'lost'
“When Nigeria launched the NigComSat-1 into space it was hailed as the country first steps into the space age. The $340m satellite built by the Chinese firm the Great Wall Industry Corporation was launched in Sichuan province in May 2007 and it launch was watched proudly by a delegation from Nigeria including the then Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Turner Isoun.
Fast forward to November 2008 and the promises of jobs and development in telecommunications to be brought about from the deployment of the satellite seem to have temporarily gone down a black hole. The drama started off with reports earlier this week that suggested that communication with the satellite was completely lost and fears arose that it might have spun out of its orbit.
However by Wednesday a Nigerian government official attributed the problem to a loss of power. Speaking in Abuja the Nigerian capital the Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Alhassan Zaku described the sequence of the problem “At about 4am yesterday (Tuesday), our engineers who are manning the ground station here in Abuja, noticed that the satellite in the orbit was not being recharged.”
He described the actions that were taken saying “Usually, this is supposed to happen via solar energy. Usually, when it is not being recharged it losses energy very fast. So when they noticed, they quickly reported to the managing director. About the same time, the station in China, of course the satellite was built and launched in China, noticed and also called to communicate what they have noticed but assured that they were working to see what they could do.”
The Minister said the satellite was now being ‘parked’ to avoid it drifting out of its orbit and causing collateral damage to other satellites. He assured customers of the satellite and Nigerians that the satellite was fully insured and the Chinese manufacturers will replace the satellite which was guaranteed for 15 years. “
This article was curled from ClickAfrique.com magazine
Today, it is now a common knowledge that NICOSAT-1 is lost forever and I will like to examine issues arising from this loss.
First, let us look at the possible reasons why the satellite failed.
A number of reasons may have contributed to an early failure of the satellite which boasted to be a solution to broadband and high speed internet connection in Nigeria including reducing the cost of telephone tariff.
a) Man made failures
b) Force majeure or natural causes
Was the failure of the satellite a man made affair or was it caused by sun flares that damaged the satellite’s solar panels as we are being told? Let us examine the issues in detail.
a) Man made failures
I do agree that satellites fail in space and it is fairly common too but such a quick failure for a guaranteed 15 year life span satellites demands some probing.
A project of such magnitude will naturally demand some experienced experts to manage its design, construction supervision and lunch. The big question here is who were the project managers for this project and what was there level of experience in managing a space program?
It is important that this question be rightly answered because it appears that the project was doomed from inception, simply put it was designed to fail.
Power systems, whether it is the solar panels and the jet engines designed to properly align the satellite are the life wire of any satellite in space. So who was the power expert that examined and tested the power systems both the electrical power systems which includes the solar panels and the batteries and the various connections on one hand and the mechanical systems designed to align the satellite properly.
We will like to know what manner of testing that these systems were subjected to before this satellite was hurried to space.
Were all the sensors working as they should and accurately reporting what they should report before the launch and after the lunch?
Anyway 40 billion Naira pens to insignificant when compared with the money frittered away by corrupt officials during the last administration so the government may choose to keep a blind eye as usual.
My hunch tells me that there were something fundamentally wrong with the satellite which was man made and that the satellite did not fail as a result of solar flares as it is being branded. It is important therefore that detailed investigation be carried out on this and the Chinese company made to refund the amount of money the Federal government paid to it if it fails to replace the satellite within stipulated time in the agreement, that is if there is any substantial and binding contract agreement in the first place, because if there is any why do the contractor need to be lobbying the Fed Government before going ahead to replace it. Or do we now assume that some Chinese colluded with some people to fritter away our common patrimony as it is usually the case in Nija.
b) Failure by natural causes (Solar flares)
I will like to ask, how many orbital satellites where affected by this flare the same day or was it only NICOMSAT that was affected? Solar Flare was not a new phenomena, what then was designed within the system to help cushion this effect if none why is there no safeguarded against solar flares including a quick replacement option if such should happen.
My opinion in all of this is that NICOMSAT-1 was a precious waste of our resources and time regardless of what you think we have gained in terms of tech transfer. It has become one of those failed Nigerian IT projects that litter the landscape.
God help the queen!
The NICOMSAT issue is a very funny one. Why is it that all Nigerian things always have problems? If this is the way satellites fail, then we won't be able to use internet, make calls, watch broadband videos, satellite calls etc. In recent years, how many of the Chinese satellites have been lost or parked in space as a result of solar flare(or what do they call it)? It is funny here that even if we are looking for technology transfer, a better country could do better. Take for instance not long ago Russians trained these same Chinese for 10years to transfer to them space and satellite technology which the latter were eventually launched into space last year 2008. The people in government of Nigeria gave an excuse of looking for a cheaper contractor and in so doing, they look for the chinese contractor because they could easily be compromised. Now that the NICOMSAT is lost, is it cheaper? -Compare the total overhead cost of signing a normal and direct contract that is devoid of bribbery in Russia to that of Chinese where bribbery takes more than half of the contract worth.
ReplyDeleteLook the other way, let's say that the contract was given to a Russian firm, they will not like the name of their country to be soiled because they have stabilized and perfect their space technology and their president will always frown at such things but anything goes with the Chinese or the Chinese Government(the irony of it all is that they don't do such things in their own county).
On the other hand, if it is true that some Nigerian government officials collude with the Chinese contractor shame on them! They should have their reason for doing so because those who committed a greater offence were treated with kid gloves and the Nigeria populace has come to a state of complacent where no one cares of what happen there at the three arms zone.
It is high time we woke up from our slumber!