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Agency overview | |
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Abbreviation | NASRDA |
Formed | 5 May 1999 |
Type | Space agency |
Jurisdiction | Federal Government of Nigeria |
Headquarters | Garki, Abuja, Nigeria 9°4′N7°29′E / 9.067°N 7.483°E |
Administrator | Dr. Mathew Adepoju Director-General |
Owner | Nigeria |
Employees | 3,500 (2021) |
Annual budget | ₦ 22.69 billion (2023) [1] |
Website | https://central.nasrda.gov.ng/ |
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is the national space agency of Nigeria. It is a parastatal under Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. The agency is based in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja in the Lugbe district and has a ground receiving station, among various other sites. In the past, it has cooperated in space technology with the United Kingdom, [2] China, Ukraine and Russia. [3] The agency has struggled with meeting its financial plans and some of its facilities are rundown. Despite this, the space agency is one of the most advanced space agencies in Africa, boasting of four satellites and very grand ambitions. Nigeria's satellites have been praised for their high-resolution images. [4] NASRDA is host to one of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Offices (RSO) in Africa.
NASRDA was established on 5 May 1999, after a preparation period since in 1998 by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Nigerian government with a primary objective of establishing a "fundamental policy for the development of space science and technology" with an initial budget of $93 million. [5]
In May 2006, the new extended national space program was adopted. [6] NASRDA has launched four satellites of its own, the first one in 2003 and the last one in 2009.
The initial scope of the Nigerian Space Programme (NSP) to be implemented by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) should include:
The study of basic space science in order to lay the foundation for deriving maximum benefits from the nation's participation in the space enterprise; For the attainment of space capabilities, Nigeria's efforts should focus on research and rigorous education, engineering development, design and manufacture, particularly in the areas of instrumentation, rocketry and small satellites as well as in satellite data acquisition, processing, analysis and management of related software; The establishment of a national earth observation station for remote sensing and satellite meteorology data acquisition. The provision of efficient, reliable and adequate telecommunications services in Nigeria in order to enhance the growth of the industrial, commercial and administrative sectors of the economy. The focus areas of the Nigerian Space Programme (NSP) include:
Basic Space Science and Technology to provide the understanding of how the universe works and what its impact is on the world. This will enable us to lay the foundation for deriving maximum benefits from the nation's participation in the space enterprise.
Remote Sensing to help Nigerians understand and manage our environment and natural resources using space-acquired information. This technology will enable us to better understand our land, air and water resources and their associated problems.
Satellite Meteorology to study atmospheric and weather sciences using satellite data to facilitate the effective management of our environment.
Communication and Information Technology to provide efficient and reliable telecommunications services for Nigeria in order to enhance the growth of the industrial, commercial and administrative sectors of the economy.
Defence and Security to help the Federal Government shall develop a necessary Space Science Technology (SST) programme that will address the national needs of Nigeria. For this purpose the government shall establish a Defence Space Command in the Ministry of Defence. The Command shall comprise representatives of the defence, intelligence, security and law enforcement services and report through the Ministry of Defence.
Five satellites have been launched by the Nigerian government into outer space. Early plans to launch a national satellite in 2000 were not executed. The NigeriaSat-1 was the first Nigerian satellite and built by a United Kingdom-based satellite technology company, Surrey Space Technology Limited (SSTL ltd) under the Nigerian government sponsorship for $30 million. The satellite was launched by Kosmos-3M rocket from Russian Plesetsk spaceport on 27 September 2003. NigeriaSat-1 was part of the worldwide Disaster Monitoring Constellation System. [7] The primary objectives of the Nigeriasat-1 were: to give early warning signals of environmental disaster; to help detect and control desertification in the northern part of Nigeria; to assist in demographic planning; to establish the relationship between vectors and the environment that breeds malaria and to give early warning signals on future outbreaks of meningitis using remote sensing technology; to provide the technology needed to bring education to all parts of the country through distant learning; and to aid in conflict resolution and border disputes by mapping out state and International borders.
NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, Nigeria's third and fourth satellites, were built as a high-resolution earth satellite by SSTL for DMC system also. It has 2.5-metre resolution panchromatic (very high resolution), 5-metre multispectral (high resolution, NIR red, green and red bands), and 32-metre multispectral (medium resolution, NIR red, green and red bands) antennas. This satellite was launched into orbit by the Ukrainian Dnepr rocket from a Yasny military base in Russia on 17 August 2011. [8]
NigComSat-1, a Nigerian satellite ordered and built in China in 2004, was Nigeria's second satellite and Africa's first communication satellite. It was launched on 13 May 2007, aboard a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. The spacecraft was operated by NigComSat a company under the Nigerian Space Agency, NASRDA. On 11 November 2008, NigComSat-1 failed in orbit after running out of power due to an anomaly in its solar array. It was based on the Chinese DFH-4 satellite bus, and carries a variety of transponders: 4 C band; 14 Ku band; 8 Ka band; and 2 L band. It was designed to provide coverage to many parts of Africa, and the Ka band transponders would also cover Italy.
On 10 November 2008 (0900 GMT), the satellite was reportedly switched off for analysis and to avoid a possible collision with other satellites. According to Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, it was put into "emergency mode operation in order to effect mitigation and repairs". [9] The satellite eventually failed after losing power on 11 November 2008.
On 24 March 2009, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, NigComSat Ltd. and CGWIC signed a further contract for the in-orbit delivery of the NigComSat-1R satellite. NigComSat-1R was also a DFH-4 satellite, and is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2011 as a replacement for the failed NigComSat-1. [10]
On 19 December 2011, a new Nigerian communications satellite was launched into orbit by China in Xichang. The satellite according to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan which was paid for by the insurance policy on NigComSat-1 which de-orbited in 2009, would have a positive impact on national development in various sectors such as communications, internet services, health, agriculture, environmental protection and national security. [11]
NigComSat-2 and NigComSat-3 - more communications satellites to extend Nigerian Communication Satellite limited capacity, planning to launch in 2012 and 2013. As of 2021, they have not been launched.
NigeriaSAT-1 - dual-aimed military/civil Earth monitoring satellite with synthetic aperture radar, planning to launch in 2015. As of 2023, they have not been launched.
Edusat-2 is a satellite planned to be launched in June or July 2021. It plans to be the first indigenous satellite developed by NASRDA engineers. It hopes to be launched from the International Space Station. It is expected to cost about ₦20,000,000. [14]
Robert Ajayi Boroffice announced at a public lecture on space technology development that Nigeria will be able to build indigenous satellites in the country without foreign assistance by 2018. [15] As of 2021, all of Nigeria's 4 satellites have used foreign assistance.
Robert Ajayi Boroffice told the press that Nigeria will take advantage of its geographic location to launch into near-equatorial orbit by an indigenous developed space launcher from a national spaceport to be built around 2025–2028. It may also include collaboration with Ukraine. [16]
A probe to the Moon is planned for launch in 2030. [17] That being said, there has not been any official updates on the production.
The first Nigerian astronaut is currently expected to launch aboard a foreign spacecraft during sometime between 2015 and 2030. Negotiations with Russia were held in the 2000s on possibly using Russian rockets to launch the astronauts. However, Nigeria has now shifted to China, being the most likely country to ever launch Nigerian astronauts.
Nigeria planned to train astronauts by 2015 and launch them into orbit by 2030. However, till date, none of these projects have commenced.
When it was announced by former federal minister of innovation, science and technology Ogbonnaya Onu in 2016 that Nigeria was going to send an astronaut by 2030, it was met with criticism. Additionally a scam email circulated of a Nigerian astronaut lost in space, but many space experts do not think it is what Nigeria needs. [18] In an interview with CNN's Eleni Giokos in 2016, the former Director-General S. O. Mohammed stated: "We are not part of the race for the moon, we're not part the race for Mars". [19]
The Long March rockets are a family of expendable launch system rockets operated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The rockets are named after the Chinese Red Army's 1934–35 Long March military retreat during the Chinese Civil War.
The space program of the People's Republic of China is about the activities in outer space conducted and directed by the People's Republic of China. The roots of the Chinese space program trace back to the 1950s, when, with the help of the newly allied Soviet Union, China began development of its first ballistic missile and rocket programs in response to the perceived American threats. Driven by the successes of Soviet Sputnik 1 and American Explorer 1 satellite launches in 1957 and 1958 respectively, China would launch its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 in April 1970 aboard a Long March 1 rocket, making it the fifth nation to place a satellite in orbit.
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a company involved in the manufacture and operation of small satellites. A spin-off company of the University of Surrey, it is presently wholly owned by Airbus Defence and Space.
The Disaster Monitoring Constellation for International Imaging (DMCii) or just Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) consists of a number of remote sensing satellites constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and operated for the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments by DMC International Imaging. The DMC provides emergency Earth imaging for disaster relief under the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, which the DMC formally joined in November 2005. Other DMC Earth imagery is used for a variety of civil applications by a variety of governments. Spare available imaging capacity is sold under contract.
AsiaSat 1 was a Hong Kong communications satellite, which was owned, and was operated, by the Hong Kong–based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company. It was originally launched in February 1984 as Westar 6, but following a booster motor failure it was retrieved and returned to Earth in November of that year by Space Shuttle mission STS-51-A. After being sold to AsiaSat and refurbished, it was relaunched in April 1990, and positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 100.5° East. It spent its operational life at 100.5° East, from where it was used to provide fixed satellite services, including broadcasting, audio and data transmission, to Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
NigComSat-1 was a Nigerian communication satellite. The initial contract to build the satellite was signed in 2004. It was launched in China by Nasrda and became the third African geosynchronous communication satellite, when it was launched at 16:01 UTC on 13 May 2007, aboard a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. The spacecraft was operated by Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT). On November 11, 2008, NigComSat-1 failed in orbit after running out of power due to an anomaly in its solar array.
Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited is a company under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
ChinaSat is the brand name of communications satellites operated by China Satellite Communications.
The Long March 3B, also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters, it is the heaviest variant of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites and navigation satellites into geosynchronous orbits.
Paksat-1R is a geosynchronous, communications satellite that was manufactured by China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) and operated by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), an executive space authority of the Government of Pakistan.
The year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011, and the launch of China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, in September. A total of 84 orbital launches were conducted over the course of the year, of which 78 were successful. Russia, China and the United States conducted the majority of the year's orbital launches, with 35, 19 and 18 launches respectively; 2011 marked the first year that China conducted more successful launches than the United States. Seven crewed missions were launched into orbit during 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts to the International Space Station. Additionally, the Zenit-3F and Long March 2F/G carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2011, while the Delta II Heavy made its last.
Sino Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. known also as SinoSat is a Chinese company.
Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd or better known as ATSB was established on 1 May 1995 and is wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Inc under the supervision of the Malaysian Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC).
Deimos-1 is a Spanish Earth imaging satellite which is operated by Deimos Imaging who commercializes its imagery directly but also has distribution agreements with other entities like Astrium GEO and DMC International Imaging.
The Space Programme 2040 was a satellite development and launch initiative undertaken by SUPARCO, Pakistan's national space agency. This program aimed to replace the country's existing Badr satellite series and establish a new fleet of satellites.
The Algerian Space Agency, was established on January 16, 2002 in Bouzareah, Algiers. The agency is in charge of the Algerian space program, and has flown five different satellites.
Planet Labs PBC is a publicly trading American Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint trends.
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Nigeria EduSat-1 was a Nigerian nanosatellite built by the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), created in conjunction with the Japanese Birds-1 program. It was Nigeria's first satellite built by a university. It was launched from the Japanese Kibō module of the International Space Station, being brought to the station as part of SpaceX CRS-11.
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