Prince Osuagwu
26 November 2008
opinion
In the early hours of Monday, November 10, the news started filtering in that the N30 billion Nigerian Communications Satellite, NigComSat - 1 launched into orbit about a year ago by China Great Wall Industry Incorporation, was missing.
It was not so clear whether the story was true or not because industry observers wondered how a whole satellite would be missing in the orbit. But within two days, the picture began to get clearer, when the management of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, NigComSat, issued a statement confirming that there was actually a problem with the satellite, causing it to shift place in orbit.
Technically, this meant that those connected to its services including banks, governments agencies and paratastals as well as private Internet service providers such as Emperium West Africa Limited and telecom players such as Visafone were to remain in the dark until it finds its way back.
However, when the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Ahmed Rufai, appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, last Tuesday, it was confirmed that the satellite was lost and could never be recovered. Bad business for the company, as it was about to seal a deal to provide satellite backbone services for the budding GSM entrant, Etisalat, when the satellite developed problem.
Rufai, however, said that contrary to speculations, the loss of the satellite was rather a technical problem resulting from the solar flare and not a manufacture defect.
He also noted that the flare damaged the solar panels of six other similar satellites altogether with the NigComsat-1, the same day.
According to Rufai, "the first incident occurred on April 17, 2008, when half of the power was lost from the South Solar Array due to a single event offset leaving the North Solar Array as the only source of power.
"Unfortunately, a similar incident occurred on the Northern Solar Panel Array on November 9, 2008, at about 10:34 p.m Nigerian time during a non-eclipse position. The batteries are only supposed to discharge during eclipse and recharge when in non-eclipse position, while the solar array acts as the source of power to the satellite."
Rufai said that all efforts to put back power into the solar panel failed, leading to de-orbiting the satellite to avoid total loss of power and control which would result in damages to other satellites in orbit or even aircraft in flights.
But the twist in the story is that Rufai on the same ground, canvassed for government to appropriate more money for the construction of two new satellites, NigComSat-1 and 2, justifying his prayer with a suggestion that the business viability of the communication satellites in Nigeria was enormous.
Although Rufai is not alone in this request, as many other experts in the Science and Tech field agreed that there should immediately be a replacement of the satellite, many others have also asked what Nigeria would lose in calling it bye on any venture that has to do with Satellites. Opinions are also divided on the gains to be harnessed in moving forward to build two more satellites NigComSat-2 and 3 as Rufai has canvassed and on the difference it would make to either look for other satellite builders in other countries outside China, should Nigeria actually decide to still invest in Satellites or continue with the company that built the missing NigComSat-1, with the benefit of hindsight to economic, diplomatic and political gains.
For Senior Engineering Manager at Philips Place, Lagos, Mr. Patrick Edeh, "government must not waste time in launching these satellites. As a country, we have made powerful statements with the launch of NigComSat -1 as the first black country to have a footprint in space, despite the negative criticisms from a lot of western interests and their cohorts here in Africa. But the fact that NigComSat -1 changed the entire market thinking about bandwidth pricing before its technical problems proved that this is a road we must take".
In the same vein, Lagos based technology analyst and a promoter of rural telephony in eastern Nigeria, Mr Pius Ikedife agreed with the idea of launching a new satellite but admitted there is a lot of misconception about the satellite industry that has tended to portray Nigeria's entry as a disastrous one. He said that "more than 30 satellites have developed different levels of serious errors in the last 24 months built by the best hands in Europe and The US. But you don't make fuss over this. You simply tracked down the problems, make amends and move on with newer investment that is ultimately justifiable.
The lesson is that we must remain up there in orbits with not one satellite but several if we must sustain the radical changes we have initiated in the African satellite space"
His idea tallied with that of the Chairman of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem who admitted that though the loss of NigComSat was so painful, it should not deter Nigeria from investing in another Satellite venture.
For Ekuwem, " it is good to go for another satellite but before that is done, there must be a pre-condition that the factors that led to the failure of NigComSat-1 are fully understood to avoid a recurrence of the ugly situation. There must be a well studied investigation on the loss of that satellite" he added.
But for the Chairman of Lagos based Disc Communication limited, Mr Bayo Banjo, the loss of NigComSat is even suspicious in the first place because satellites do not go that bad as Rufai tends to paint the picture but if there was adequate insurance policy for the lost satellite and the insurance company was ready to foot the bill of another satellite, so fine.
But if that is not the case, government should save the tax payers money and allow a private firm to take the country's place in the space.
However, a strong industry expert, Mr Chris Uwaje saw it all differently. His idea is that whatever happened to NigComSat-1 and what to do with another should neither be politicised or publicised. He believes that what the government needed to do in this case was to set up expert group to discuss on the failures or fortunes of Nigeria's satellite venture in camera.
"The problem is not a media issue because it is highly intelligentsia. The expert group would study the loss and review the future and make the findings so classified that it would not be published. Satellite space is like a place without regulation and if one is not fully in control, others may knock him off. Even as all these issues are raging, some secret agents of many countries are listening with a view to eventually sabotaging whatever idea we must come with if it is made public" he added.
Most of Vanguard readers who joined the fray online, also have one point or two to prove. For Mr Femi Adeoti, "is it not interesting that the DG under whose watch millions of dollars has gone down the drain is quickly advocating the construction of 2nd and 3rd satellites? I'm sure if this man was spending his own money, he would be careful to make such unguarded requests! I bet if this man was working in the private sector he would be fired by now for bringing such a colossal loss on his organisation. worse still, he is advicating that the same people that built the one that has dis-appeared should be allowed to build more.
How can he be suggesting this except he is heavily compromised? Based on what competence was that company selected in the first instance? several satellites have been in the orbit for several years and are still functional! Rather than face the major business for which Nigcomsat was created, all they are interested in is GSM license so they can create another bogus monopoly in the mould of Nitel that never worked. No further sum should be released for these grandiose projects"
Another reader, Mattias Anisiobi also commented that "it is unfortunate that we lost NigComsat-1 which would have helped revolutionize the Nigerian communication system. Has it been determined that the satellite was not sabotaged?
Coded radio signals can be transmitted to satellite systems to render some or all of its parts unworkable. Advanced countries which has been building and using satellites for a variety of uses are very experienced in the workings of satellites.
Before we commit another hundreds of millions of euros to launching another satellite, a thorough technical investigation must be concluded in ascertaining the cause of the demise of NigComsat-1. Also instead of using an upstart country like China for future adventure we should employ the service of countries experienced in the satellite business. Countries like Russia, US among others".
Obviously, the satellite industry is full of mishaps. In September 2006, Intelsat 802 the spacecraft of leading satellite operator Intelsat developed sudden and unexpected problem. It was built by world renowned Lockheed Martin (formerly GE Astro Space). In the same year, Thaicom 3, built by Europe based Alcatel Alenia Space, was put in graveyard orbit after power problems lead to its total loss. Alcatel Alenia Space also built the ill fated RASCOM QAF 1 communication satellite.
Hotbird 3 owned and operated by Eutelsat had its solar array damaged in October 2006. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency lost its MTSAT 1R in April 2006. The satellite failed to operate and lost attitude on 16 April. However, it was regained 16 hours later and about a year after it was originally launched. PanAmSat lost its PAS 6 communication satellite in 2004 due to significant loss of power. It was built by the highly reputable SpaceSystems/Loral (SS/L).
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