Angola establishes presence in space after a glitch satellite launch

Angola has launched its first national satellite into space after suffering a brief loss of contact two days after take-off on Tuesday from the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

Soon after the take-off of the AngoSat-1 communications satellite which cost $300 million, the Russian ground control staff said they had lost contact with it. On Friday, the Russian space corporation Energiya announced in a statement that contact had been re-established and “all the parameters of onboard systems are working normally,” reports Reuters.

The Angolan satellite built in partnership with Russia will aid in improving telecommunication services, telemedicine and other projects. The development of the satellite started since 2009 and it’s expected to have a working life of about 15 years.

Ghana successfully launched its first satellite GhanaSat-1 into space in July 2017 to capture high definition images of the country from space and broadcast songs including the National Anthem.

Nigeria earlier in 2011 launched two Earth observation satellites into space for the monitoring of its weather. The NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X satellites were launched into orbit aboard a Russian Dnepr rocket from Yasny, southern Russia.

South Africa has also launched a number of satellites into space including its first biggest private satellite this year. Other African countries including Ethiopia and Kenya are preparing to launch their own satellites next year.

BY ISMAIL AKWEI