French aerospace company Thales Alenia Space and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have been selected to build Nigeria’s next communications satellites, as the government moves to expand broadband capacity and replace its ageing NIGCOMSAT-1R.
The selection follows Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval on August 22 for the acquisition and deployment of NIGCOMSAT-2A and NIGCOMSAT-2B, allowing Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) to move its long-running satellite replacement programme into the next phase.
The two satellites are expected to provide additional capacity for broadband, broadcasting, enterprise connectivity and government services, particularly in areas where fibre and other terrestrial networks are too costly or difficult to deploy.
The timing is critical. NIGCOMSAT-1R, Nigeria’s current communications satellite, was launched on December 19, 2011, with a 15-year design life and is reaching the end of that period in 2026. NIGCOMSAT says careful management of its onboard fuel will allow the satellite to remain operational until 2028, giving the government a limited window to finance, build and launch its replacement.
Originally published by TechCabal.