The testing of Nigerian Communications Satellite, which was inaugurated in the orbit on Monday, would end 40 days after the spacecraft was put into the orbit. At about 6.04pm Nigerian time on Monday, the replacement of the Nigerian Communications Satellite was inaugurated in the injection orbit, marking a successful return about three years after the nations premier communications satellite failed in the orbit. The successful launch of the satellite, however, does not mean that it will start delivering service immediately. Assistant General Manager, Satellite Control Centre at NigComSat Limited, Mr. Suleiman Ovurevu, explained to our correspondent that it would take about 960 hours from the time of injection of the satellite into the orbit for the testing to be completed. This means that the satellite is not expected to start delivering service until the in-orbit testing (IOT) is completed. The communication satellite managed by the Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited was launched on a Long March 3B (LM-3B) launch vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, located in South West China. The spacecraft entered the predefined orbit of perigee being 200 km, apogee 41991 km and inclination 24.8, according to NigComSat spokesman, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore. The new satellite, known simply as NigComSat-1R, is the fourth in-orbit delivery contract signed by China Space with its international customers. Aragba-Akpore said the successful launch was conducted according to the NigComSat-1R Contract signed by NigComSat Limited and China Great Wall Industry Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The NigComSat-1R is a replacement for the Nigeria Communications Satellite 1 (NigComSat-1) that failed in orbit on November 8, 2008. NigComSat-1R spacecraft was built on Dong Fang Hong 4 (DFH-4) satellite bus developed by China Academy of Space Technology and launched by LM-3B launch vehicle, developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle. China Satellite Launch Tracking and Control General is providing tracking, control and ground segment support for the programme. Aragba-Akpore said, "The NigComSat-1R is the eighth satellite built on the DFH-4 bus for in-orbit delivery and the NigComSat-1R launch is the 18th flight of LM-3B launch vehicle and the 154th flight in the series of the Long March launchers."The project was carried out in conjunction with over 50 Nigcomsat engineers who spent the last 31 months in China. The satellite with service lifespan of over 15 years was designed to meet the needs of telecommunications, maritime, defence, broadcast media in Africa, particularly Nigeria; parts of Europe and Asia." The satellite has 28 active transponders, and quad band of Ku, ka, C-Band and L-band. Two ground stations located in Abuja, Nigeria and Kashi, China owned by Nigcomsat participated fully in the launch.
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