Efem Nkanga and Chuks Okocha in Abuja
14 November 2008
Lagos — The explanation given by the Federal Government on the current status of its Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigComSat-1) in orbit is raising fresh questions.
Some are questioning why the Federal Government did not deem it fit to inform Nigerians about the state of the N40 billion satellite before the media reported it missing.
Yesterday, the Action Congress (AC) asked the Federal Government to tell Nigerians the true state of the satellite and what really happened to it, especially in the light of the fact that the country is planning to launch a second satellite into orbit.
The management of NigComSat had confirmed that the nation's satellite 1 has technical problems owing to a fault with the Solar Panel causing outage.
But an expert who craved anonymity told THISDAY that the monumental embarrassment that the failure of the satellite might cause the country is the reason why the real status of the satellite, which he insisted is missing, "is being kept under wraps".
The authorities are playing on words, according to him. "That word, 'missing', has several meanings. Another word for missing is losing, omitting, displaced, lacking, dropping etc. A satellite is not like a car that you park in your garage," he said.
He explained that a satellite rotates in space, adding that "the solar panel that they are saying is faulty is used to refill solar power from sunlight. The panel receives direct sunlight which it converts to electricity and stores in a battery. Once the battery runs down, there will be no power and the satellite will lose control and if you can't control it, how do you park it?"
Also, the BBC in a report on its website yesterday disclosed that telecoms experts have described the operation of the satellite as a "debacle" and a "white elephant in space". The issue is said to have made the country, currently battling with infrastructure problems such as power, a butt of jokes, with emails saying that Nigeria has "exported its electricity generation problems to space" being circulated.
The Federal Government had yesterday denied that the satellite was missing but parked "due to loss of energy".
The AC, in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the official explanation that the satellite was merely faulty and is now being repaired in orbit where it was "parked like a car", is totally unacceptable.
The AC added that "whatever play on language they are engaged in, one thing is certain: the 40 billion-naira satellite is out of action!" the party said.
Reiterating that "the government owes the people a more detailed and sensible explanation on how a satellite that cost 40 billion naira in taxpayers' funds and built to last 15 years can suddenly go bad, with non-functioning solar panels and all that, after just 18 months in orbit".
Dr. Alhassan Zaku, the Minister of Science and Technology, had said the satellite actually developed a technical fault that resulted in the inability of the operational batteries to be charged by the solar panels.
Zaku said when the fault was detected by the Nigerian and Chinese engineers stationed in Abuja and China at about 4.00 am on Tuesday, the satellite was "parked" in order not to cause damage to other satellites because repairs could not be effected on time.
He also said if repairs could not be effected on the satellite, a new one would be built and launched, adding that the cost would be born by NigComSat's insurance company.
According to him, "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.
"When they found that it was becoming a bit difficult for them to manage, they contacted us to ask what they should do since it is our own. At around 9 am, I met with the MD and we looked at the options and decided that the best thing to do was to park it like you park a car.
"Because if it is not parked there will be no energy left to move it but because there was still some energy left, we decided to move it aside and park it in a safe place. Because if it is not done, it will lose all the energy and become like a lose canon which will keep rolling about and hitting other satellites in orbit. And of course almost all satellites are carrying loads that are paid for and once you make that damage you are liable. So we decided that they should park it while repairs continue," Zaku stated.
THISDAY had on Wednesday reported that the Nigerian Satellite which was launched into orbit over 18 months ago was missing from orbit.
THISDAY had also reported that activities manned by the satellite would grind to a halt and the huge amount spent by the Nigerian government might be lost except the technical problem, which THISDAY gathered is of a huge magnitude, is resolved.
The satellite was said to have been experiencing technical hitches for sometime prior to this latest displacement largely due to the fact that it was said to be using a technological standard not meant for Africa but for Asia.
Another issue that has raised concern in many quarters is that the materials used in the building of the satellite by the Chinese is said not to be of the highest standards.
Aside the solar panel which supplies energy to the satellite and is faulty, other components that make up the satellite were said to be questionable.
The contract for the NigComSat project was signed on December 15, 2004 in Abuja between China Great Wall Industry Corporation and the National Space Research and Development Agency and was said to have cost the Federal Government over N40 billion. China was awarded the deal after it outbid other 21 international rivals.
The cost of the satellite include items such as construction, insurance, value added tax as well as the price for building one ground control station in Abuja and a backup control station in Kashi, China.
The satellite has four gateways said to be located in South Africa, China, Italy and Northern Nigeria. The satellite which has a lifespan of 15 years is being monitored and tracked by a ground station built in Abuja while the Chinese firm has a ground station in Kashgar, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
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How many trials and errors did US, UK and other industrialized countries including China & India encountered b4 they finally succeeded on any technological development? What do you expect UK’s BBC to say but to call any of our attempt to break away from the mold of our technological dependency on them a "white elephant" as long as we keep producing raw materials for them to add value & turn around to sell the finished product to us at exorbitant cost. Given the potential for a good monetary return and given our location in a region that is marginalized technologically, we should not give up on satellite technology with a goal to have Nigerian experts trained quickly and learn-by-doing the practical aspect of the control so Nigerians can eventually take over the design & manufacturing of the tools and eventually launching them ourselves. Who knows where this technological know-how can take us? India, a relatively poor country like Nigeria recently launched its space exploration program, we could too. But, too much reliance on countries like China which may sabotage us, for instance, because of the recent suspension of Railroad contract with China, is risky. The more reason to speed up the training of our local Engineers to take over the full mission control of the project.
The life span of solar panel is between 25 and 30 years. Any reason given for the failure of solar panel installation after 4 to 10 years is nonsense. This issue must be investigated and defaulters must be purnihed. Thank you.
Adamson Ifesanya