Algeria’s first geostationary satellite AlComSat1 is to launch by mid 2017 aboard a Chang Zheng-3B/G2 rocket, the North African nation’s space agency has announced.
“The satellite Alcomsat1 will be launched before the end of June 2017 with the aim of strengthening the national sovereignty in the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting, of telephony and Internet,” said Azzedine Oussedik, director general of the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL).
The communications satellite AlComSat1 will carry Ku-band and Ka-band transponders for civil applications and Z-band, UHF and EHF for military and strategic state sector use. Based on the DFH-4 Bus, it has a 5200Kg mass, and a 15-year lifetime.
Two ground control stations have been built, one in Medea and the second in Ouargla, which will control the satellite. The project is being conducted in cooperation with China, which is training Algerian staff to run the operation.
The news comes following the September launch of three Algerian observation satellites (AlSat-1B, AlSat-2B and AlSat-1N) by the Indian launcher PSLV C-35 from Sriharikota, the Space Centre of Satich Dhawan in southeast of India.