| The N40b NigComSat Mess |  |  |  |
| The N40b NigComSat Mess | | | |
| Written by Anza Philips, Abuja Bureau | |
| Sunday, 23 November 2008 | |
After keeping the truth from Nigerians for weeks, the federal government has finally admitted that NigComSat-1 has broken down The Federal government has finally admitted that Nigeria’s pioneer NigComSat-1satellite, launched into space with fanfare last year, has been damaged beyond repairs and has now been maneuvered to the parking orbit and cannot be recovered for use again. Ahmed Rufa’i, managing director of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, NCSL, confirmed the loss of the facility when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on science and technology to clarify recent reports on the state of the satellite in Abuja last Tuesday. He told the committee, chaired by Akinlade Abiodun, that the loss experienced on NigComSat-1 barely 18 months after it was sent into orbit was neither uncommon in the industry nor bizarre. “A private satellite operator in America recorded six failures on six satellites on the same day. In fact, the industry's records reveal a total of 18 losses in 2008 alone. This informs the rationale for backup satellites and insurance as experts’ advice that a lone satellite is a decided gamble.” Rufa’i said the problem that resulted in the eventual loss of the satellite began about eight months ago. “The first incident occurred on April 7, 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 event occurred on the North Solar panel on November 9, 2008 during a non-eclipse position.” He said the batteries of the satellite were only supposed to discharge during eclipse and recharge in non-eclipse situations while the solar array served as the source of power to the satellite. “This anomaly was noticed by NigComSat engineers on night duty and reported to the satellite manufacturer, China Great Wall Industry Corporation, CGWIC. Both teams worked tirelessly for over 24 hours to perform a rescue operation on the satellite,” he said. The NigComSat boss explained that all efforts to recover the power supply of the solar panels failed and the satellite was consequently de-orbited to avoid total loss of power and loss of control, which could result in damage to other satellites in orbit or even to aircraft in flight. This would mean heavy fines from the International Telecommunications Union and liabilities to other nations under the United Nations Outer Space Treaties. Rufa’i said that the process of de-orbiting was concluded on November 9 and the satellite has now been maneuvered to the parking orbit and cannot be recovered for use again. He urged Nigerians not to worry over the collapse of NigComSat-1, saying that it was fully insured and that money spent on it did not go down the drain as being reported in some quarters. We have not taken over the management of the satellite from China. The Chinese themselves have written to us, they are committed to getting a quick solution to the problem. The Chinese Government contributed about $200 million to this project and the collateral for this loan is the satellite. The loan itself was negotiated under the able leadership of the former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. He said even though there is a sovereign guarantee for this loan, the collateral is the satellite because “we try to tie them in into this project.” On steps taken so far by NCSL and the Chinese on the short term plans of addressing the issue, he said the Chinese have written that they were coming to discuss the modalities for a replacement and also the possibility of setting up a backup for NigComSat 2 and 3. He said the implication is that within the next two and a half years, we will have at least three satellites in space.” Speaking on the impact of the loss to NSCL, he said “We are sorry to find ourselves in this situation. At NigComSat, we are confident that it is a challenge, it is a part of the experience that nearly every single operator in this industry has faced and is facing. There is no single operator today that has not faced one failure or the other. Ours is even like a child that is trying to walk; when you make first attempt and you stand up and you fall down, that doesn’t mean you continue to crawl just because you fell.” As a stop gap measure, Rufa’i requested the committee to help the ministry of science and technology and NCSL to convince the Federal Executive Council and President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss with the Chinese government and the satellite manufacturer to re-assign an emergency satellite that is either in orbit or being presently manufactured, with same specifications as NigComSat-1 to the nation as replacement. This admission came belatedly after attempts to downplay the incident had failed. For instance, following media reports that the satellite was missing in orbit, the federal Government had said it “parked due to loss of energy” as it was not being recharged. The management of NigComSat had also admitted that the satellite was experiencing technical problems due to a fault with the Solar Panel causing outage. Alhassan Zaku, minister of state for science and technology, told Nigerians that the satellite developed a technical fault that resulted in the inability of the operational batteries to be charged by the solar panels. Robert Boroffice, director general, National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, had during a press conference told Nigerians that the satellite was not missing and that it was merely shut down for repairs. He said the shutdown of Nigeria’s multi-billion Naira NigComSat-1 for repairs was not strange to any space enterprise. According to him, the power supply problem that affected the satellite was not a result of a technology or carelessness but a normal malfunctioning that can happen in any space enterprise. “This is not the first and it will not be the last. News sky satellite launched last year failed and Rascom satellite launched last year also failed, Columbia space shuttle failed and the challenger exploded. All these are manufactured by the American. Last week, Phoenix the space craft deployed by NASA to mars faulted as a result of battery problem, so it’s nothing strange.” the NASRDA chief said. He said even if the satellite cannot be fixed back, all hope is not lost as it is fully insured, adding that the nation would only lose two to three years before its replacement by the insurance company. On the implications to the user of the satellite, Boroffice said they will be migrated to another satellite to prevent them from suffering any loss, usually under a co-operative agreements with other operators in case of any eventuality. He said though the incident is regrettable, it should not be perceived too much on the negative side as it will kill science culture and scare people and government from investing in science and technology which will not be good for development. “I don’t think it is something we should make a very big issue of because it has been happening and will continue to happen either in developed or developing countries.” he said. Newswatch learnt that the N40 billion Nigerian Communications Satellite, NigComSat, designed, developed, manufactured and launched by the Chinese is the second Chinese-made satellite to fail in orbit in two years. NigComSat, which was launched with fanfare just 18 months ago in China, has become the second out of four satellites launched so far by the Chinese to have failed and both failures have involved the electrical systems on the satellite. It was learnt that China’s first DFH-4 satellite also failed in orbit in late 2006. NigComSat is the second DFH-4 satellite built by the Chinese. China’s first DFH-4 satellite called SinoSat-2 designed to provide Chinese communication services to the Pacific also failed in orbit and was described as the worst in-space breakdown suffered by the Chinese. Chinese officials had, in November 2006, confirmed that SinoSat-2, a new communication satellite which it launched October same year, had failed and would have to be replaced. Sinosat-2 was launched October 29, but one of the spacecraft’s solar panels apparently failed to deploy properly, depriving the spacecraft of the power needed to operate. The officials had also said then that a replacement for SinoSat-2 would take at least three years to build and launch. The DFH-4 bus is a high-power system developed to form a foundation for new Chinese civil and military communication satellites as well as foreign sales. The NigComSat-1, a communication satellite which is now missing in orbit, might have been doomed to fail from the very beginning. This is because its manufactured mechanical components from the start had problems. A few months after its launch, the International Communications Union was said to have written to the Nigerian authorities alerting them of the fact that NigComSat was not sitting in its expected position in orbit. Since positioning is critical, that singular fact showed that it was a matter of time before things go awry. If NigComSat could not stay in its exact position and it could not be maneuvered to stay in its proper place, it meant there was no control and it was only a matter of time before it will burst. Following this development, Grace Ekpiwhre, minister of science and technology, last week, held series of meetings with senior officials of the ministry to chart a way forward. In attendance at the crucial meeting were Rufa’i Robert Borofice, chief executives of technical departments of the ministry, including Alhassan Bako Zaku, minister of state and Raymond Ezenwa permanent secretary. Newswatch gathered that the meetings were aimed at receiving detailed briefing from chief executives of the corporate agencies concerned – NigComSat and NASRDA. Officials of the satellite manufacturer, Chinese Great Wall Industry Corporation, CGWIC, are expected to arrive the country soon to meet with Nigerian officials to work out both technical and political solution and also get another mission ongoing. Commenting on the incident, Atsar Terver, a space engineer, said: "I’m sure corruption has not reached space yet. However, if recent reports about the NigComSat project are anything to go by, then it appears Nigeria is set to set the pace by introducing corruption to Space." Terver also told Newswatch that, when America lost the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, it did not create an alibi to hide the truth from the American citizens. They carried out a full investigation and revealed what led to the explosion of the shuttle on re-entry to earth atmosphere. Terver said space technology is a risky and costly venture and developing countries with lean resources like Nigeria must enter the territory with the right culture and attitude; that is to learn from past mistakes and improve for the future. Terver, said the fact that the satellite was built for Nigeria by another third world country alone speaks volumes of Nigeria’s technological backwardness. He said it is sickening that someone at the helm of that ministry has not felt any challenge at all but is busy playing the ostrich with cock-and-bull stories. Another commentator who spoke to Newswatch under condition of anonymity posed some questions which he said Nigeria’s space authorities should answer. “Where is the feasibility study that informed our purchasing a whole satellite rather than buy space segment on the hundreds of existing satellites? Where is the project charter? Where are the terms of reference to which it was designed and built? How many factory acceptance tests were carried out? Where are the certificates for the FAT’s? On what day was it launched? Where are the test sheets showing initial transmission data? Who accepted the test performance data sheets giving the go-ahead to cut-over service to the satellite circuits? Where are the results of the daily checks (i.e. check lists) for the satellite? Finally, who really saw the satellite? Was there a satellite?” The contract for the NigComSat project which was signed on December 15, 2004 in Abuja between China Great Wall Industry Corporation and the National Space Research and Development Agency was said to have cost the federal government more than N40 billion. The cost of the satellite include items such as construction, insurance, value added tax as well as the cost of 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, was being monitored and tracked by a ground station built in Abuja while the Chinese firm, Great Wall Industry Corporation, has a ground station in Kashgar, in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The NigComSat which is 100 percent owned by the federal government, was recently given a 15 percent stake from the federal government and 49 percent stake in NITEL. Nigeria launched NigComSat into orbit in May 2007 with expectations of tremendous gains to the nation’s telecoms sector. The NigComSat is a super hybrid geo-stationary satellite designed to operate in Africa, parts of the Middle East and Southern Europe and was expected to digitalise the Nigerian economy and promote technological advancement in Nigeria. The satellite project was supposed to enable internet access to even the remotest rural villages, a major quest of stakeholders in recent times. It was also expected to enhance government’s economic reforms, particularly in the areas of e-learning , e-commerce, tele-medicine, tele-education and rural telephony. The project, according to experts, was expected to help African users save more than $900 million spent for telephony trucking and data transport services, $660 million in phone call charges and broadband access which is more than $95 million spent each year, as well as create more than 150,000 jobs for Nigerians. Rufa’i had before the launch said that Nigeria would earn about $1.05 billion yearly from NigComSat. A major part of the earnings was expected to come in from the sale and leasing of transponders. However, despite these high expectations. NigComSat has not performed well. Rufa’i, at a recent media interaction, agreed that NigComSat had not been able to capture the market principally because of the challenges it faced from the regulatory authority. Newswatch learnt that the cost for the satellite space craft and ground stations in Abuja and China was $256 million out of which the Chinese government underwrote $200 million while the federal government contributed $56 million. The satellite itself was accepted as collateral. The underwriting company was Munich Cray of Germany and 25 other multinational re-insurers in Russia, France and China at a cost $ 116 million. Zenith Insurance, leading a consortium of Nigeria re-insurers, underwrote 10 percent of the cost. Rufa’i said beside the $200 million seed money which the Chinese government contributed, another loan of $500 million was ready for grabs by NigComSat for the launch of NigComSat-2 and NigComSat-3. He explained that the Chinese government granted the loan to be repaid in 20 years at the interest rate of 2.5 percent yearly. "So, with the insurance coverage for NigComSat-1, the government of China is ready to replace the NigComSat-1 and still build NigComSat-2 and 3 at no extra cost to Nigeria,” he said. As an interim measure, Rufa’i said NigComSat was now ready to migrate its customers to other leased satellites pending when a new satellite would be put in place. He said that his company was ready to lease four or five transponders (satellite circuits) to enable its customers return to business. |
| Written by Anza Philips, Abuja Bureau | |
| After keeping the truth from Nigerians for weeks, the federal government has finally admitted that NigComSat-1 has broken down The Federal government has finally admitted that Nigeria’s pioneer NigComSat-1satellite, launched into space with fanfare last year, has been damaged beyond repairs and has now been maneuvered to the parking orbit and cannot be recovered for use again. Ahmed Rufa’i, managing director of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, NCSL, confirmed the loss of the facility when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on science and technology to clarify recent reports on the state of the satellite in Abuja last Tuesday. He told the committee, chaired by Akinlade Abiodun, that the loss experienced on NigComSat-1 barely 18 months after it was sent into orbit was neither uncommon in the industry nor bizarre. "A private satellite operator in America recorded six failures on six satellites on the same day. In fact, the industry's records reveal a total of 18 losses in 2008 alone. This informs the rationale for backup satellites and insurance as experts’ advice that a lone satellite is a decided gamble." Rufa’i said the problem that resulted in the eventual loss of the satellite began about eight months ago. "The first incident occurred on April 7, 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 event occurred on the North Solar panel on November 9, 2008 during a non-eclipse position." He said the batteries of the satellite were only supposed to discharge during eclipse and recharge in non-eclipse situations while the solar array served as the source of power to the satellite. "This anomaly was noticed by NigComSat engineers on night duty and reported to the satellite manufacturer, China Great Wall Industry Corporation, CGWIC. Both teams worked tirelessly for over 24 hours to perform a rescue operation on the satellite," he said. The NigComSat boss explained that all efforts to recover the power supply of the solar panels failed and the satellite was consequently de-orbited to avoid total loss of power and loss of control, which could result in damage to other satellites in orbit or even to aircraft in flight. This would mean heavy fines from the International Telecommunications Union and liabilities to other nations under the United Nations Outer Space Treaties. Rufa’i said that the process of de-orbiting was concluded on November 9 and the satellite has now been maneuvered to the parking orbit and cannot be recovered for use again. He urged Nigerians not to worry over the collapse of NigComSat-1, saying that it was fully insured and that money spent on it did not go down the drain as being reported in some quarters. We have not taken over the management of the satellite from China. The Chinese themselves have written to us, they are committed to getting a quick solution to the problem. The Chinese Government contributed about $200 million to this project and the collateral for this loan is the satellite. The loan itself was negotiated under the able leadership of the former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. He said even though there is a sovereign guarantee for this loan, the collateral is the satellite because "we try to tie them in into this project." On steps taken so far by NCSL and the Chinese on the short term plans of addressing the issue, he said the Chinese have written that they were coming to discuss the modalities for a replacement and also the possibility of setting up a backup for NigComSat 2 and 3. He said the implication is that within the next two and a half years, we will have at least three satellites in space." Speaking on the impact of the loss to NSCL, he said "We are sorry to find ourselves in this situation. At NigComSat, we are confident that it is a challenge, it is a part of the experience that nearly every single operator in this industry has faced and is facing. There is no single operator today that has not faced one failure or the other. Ours is even like a child that is trying to walk; when you make first attempt and you stand up and you fall down, that doesn’t mean you continue to crawl just because you fell." As a stop gap measure, Rufa’i requested the committee to help the ministry of science and technology and NCSL to convince the Federal Executive Council and President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss with the Chinese government and the satellite manufacturer to re-assign an emergency satellite that is either in orbit or being presently manufactured, with same specifications as NigComSat-1 to the nation as replacement. This admission came belatedly after attempts to downplay the incident had failed. For instance, following media reports that the satellite was missing in orbit, the federal Government had said it "parked due to loss of energy" as it was not being recharged. The management of NigComSat had also admitted that the satellite was experiencing technical problems due to a fault with the Solar Panel causing outage. Alhassan Zaku, minister of state for science and technology, told Nigerians that the satellite developed a technical fault that resulted in the inability of the operational batteries to be charged by the solar panels. Robert Boroffice, director general, National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, had during a press conference told Nigerians that the satellite was not missing and that it was merely shut down for repairs. He said the shutdown of Nigeria’s multi-billion Naira NigComSat-1 for repairs was not strange to any space enterprise. According to him, the power supply problem that affected the satellite was not a result of a technology or carelessness but a normal malfunctioning that can happen in any space enterprise. "This is not the first and it will not be the last. News sky satellite launched last year failed and Rascom satellite launched last year also failed, Columbia space shuttle failed and the challenger exploded. All these are manufactured by the American. Last week, Phoenix the space craft deployed by NASA to mars faulted as a result of battery problem, so it’s nothing strange." the NASRDA chief said. He said even if the satellite cannot be fixed back, all hope is not lost as it is fully insured, adding that the nation would only lose two to three years before its replacement by the insurance company. On the implications to the user of the satellite, Boroffice said they will be migrated to another satellite to prevent them from suffering any loss, usually under a co-operative agreements with other operators in case of any eventuality. He said though the incident is regrettable, it should not be perceived too much on the negative side as it will kill science culture and scare people and government from investing in science and technology which will not be good for development. "I don’t think it is something we should make a very big issue of because it has been happening and will continue to happen either in developed or developing countries." he said. Newswatch learnt that the N40 billion Nigerian Communications Satellite, NigComSat, designed, developed, manufactured and launched by the Chinese is the second Chinese-made satellite to fail in orbit in two years. NigComSat, which was launched with fanfare just 18 months ago in China, has become the second out of four satellites launched so far by the Chinese to have failed and both failures have involved the electrical systems on the satellite. It was learnt that China’s first DFH-4 satellite also failed in orbit in late 2006. NigComSat is the second DFH-4 satellite built by the Chinese. China’s first DFH-4 satellite called SinoSat-2 designed to provide Chinese communication services to the Pacific also failed in orbit and was described as the worst in-space breakdown suffered by the Chinese. Chinese officials had, in November 2006, confirmed that SinoSat-2, a new communication satellite which it launched October same year, had failed and would have to be replaced. Sinosat-2 was launched October 29, but one of the spacecraft’s solar panels apparently failed to deploy properly, depriving the spacecraft of the power needed to operate. The officials had also said then that a replacement for SinoSat-2 would take at least three years to build and launch. The DFH-4 bus is a high-power system developed to form a foundation for new Chinese civil and military communication satellites as well as foreign sales. The NigComSat-1, a communication satellite which is now missing in orbit, might have been doomed to fail from the very beginning. This is because its manufactured mechanical components from the start had problems. A few months after its launch, the International Communications Union was said to have written to the Nigerian authorities alerting them of the fact that NigComSat was not sitting in its expected position in orbit. Since positioning is critical, that singular fact showed that it was a matter of time before things go awry. If NigComSat could not stay in its exact position and it could not be maneuvered to stay in its proper place, it meant there was no control and it was only a matter of time before it will burst. Following this development, Grace Ekpiwhre, minister of science and technology, last week, held series of meetings with senior officials of the ministry to chart a way forward. In attendance at the crucial meeting were Rufa’i Robert Borofice, chief executives of technical departments of the ministry, including Alhassan Bako Zaku, minister of state and Raymond Ezenwa permanent secretary. Newswatch gathered that the meetings were aimed at receiving detailed briefing from chief executives of the corporate agencies concerned – NigComSat and NASRDA. Officials of the satellite manufacturer, Chinese Great Wall Industry Corporation, CGWIC, are expected to arrive the country soon to meet with Nigerian officials to work out both technical and political solution and also get another mission ongoing. Commenting on the incident, Atsar Terver, a space engineer, said: "I’m sure corruption has not reached space yet. However, if recent reports about the NigComSat project are anything to go by, then it appears Nigeria is set to set the pace by introducing corruption to Space." Terver also told Newswatch that, when America lost the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, it did not create an alibi to hide the truth from the American citizens. They carried out a full investigation and revealed what led to the explosion of the shuttle on re-entry to earth atmosphere. Terver said space technology is a risky and costly venture and developing countries with lean resources like Nigeria must enter the territory with the right culture and attitude; that is to learn from past mistakes and improve for the future. Terver, said the fact that the satellite was built for Nigeria by another third world country alone speaks volumes of Nigeria’s technological backwardness. He said it is sickening that someone at the helm of that ministry has not felt any challenge at all but is busy playing the ostrich with cock-and-bull stories. Another commentator who spoke to Newswatch under condition of anonymity posed some questions which he said Nigeria’s space authorities should answer. "Where is the feasibility study that informed our purchasing a whole satellite rather than buy space segment on the hundreds of existing satellites? Where is the project charter? Where are the terms of reference to which it was designed and built? How many factory acceptance tests were carried out? Where are the certificates for the FAT’s? On what day was it launched? Where are the test sheets showing initial transmission data? Who accepted the test performance data sheets giving the go-ahead to cut-over service to the satellite circuits? Where are the results of the daily checks (i.e. check lists) for the satellite? Finally, who really saw the satellite? Was there a satellite?" The contract for the NigComSat project which was signed on December 15, 2004 in Abuja between China Great Wall Industry Corporation and the National Space Research and Development Agency was said to have cost the federal government more than N40 billion. The cost of the satellite include items such as construction, insurance, value added tax as well as the cost of 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, was being monitored and tracked by a ground station built in Abuja while the Chinese firm, Great Wall Industry Corporation, has a ground station in Kashgar, in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The NigComSat which is 100 percent owned by the federal government, was recently given a 15 percent stake from the federal government and 49 percent stake in NITEL. Nigeria launched NigComSat into orbit in May 2007 with expectations of tremendous gains to the nation’s telecoms sector. The NigComSat is a super hybrid geo-stationary satellite designed to operate in Africa, parts of the Middle East and Southern Europe and was expected to digitalise the Nigerian economy and promote technological advancement in Nigeria. The satellite project was supposed to enable internet access to even the remotest rural villages, a major quest of stakeholders in recent times. It was also expected to enhance government’s economic reforms, particularly in the areas of e-learning , e-commerce, tele-medicine, tele-education and rural telephony. The project, according to experts, was expected to help African users save more than $900 million spent for telephony trucking and data transport services, $660 million in phone call charges and broadband access which is more than $95 million spent each year, as well as create more than 150,000 jobs for Nigerians. Rufa’i had before the launch said that Nigeria would earn about $1.05 billion yearly from NigComSat. A major part of the earnings was expected to come in from the sale and leasing of transponders. However, despite these high expectations. NigComSat has not performed well. Rufa’i, at a recent media interaction, agreed that NigComSat had not been able to capture the market principally because of the challenges it faced from the regulatory authority. Newswatch learnt that the cost for the satellite space craft and ground stations in Abuja and China was $256 million out of which the Chinese government underwrote $200 million while the federal government contributed $56 million. The satellite itself was accepted as collateral. The underwriting company was Munich Cray of Germany and 25 other multinational re-insurers in Russia, France and China at a cost $ 116 million. Zenith Insurance, leading a consortium of Nigeria re-insurers, underwrote 10 percent of the cost. Rufa’i said beside the $200 million seed money which the Chinese government contributed, another loan of $500 million was ready for grabs by NigComSat for the launch of NigComSat-2 and NigComSat-3. He explained that the Chinese government granted the loan to be repaid in 20 years at the interest rate of 2.5 percent yearly. "So, with the insurance coverage for NigComSat-1, the government of China is ready to replace the NigComSat-1 and still build NigComSat-2 and 3 at no extra cost to Nigeria," he said. As an interim measure, Rufa’i said NigComSat was now ready to migrate its customers to other leased satellites pending when a new satellite would be put in place. He said that his company was ready to lease four or five transponders (satellite circuits) to enable its customers return to business. newswatchngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=288&Itemid=1 |