On April 23, Angola confirmed the premature death of its first national telecommunications satellite, Angosat-1. It was launched in December, and planned to operate for 15 years.
Created in Russia, Angosat-1 initially entered the struggle for survival after launching from the Baikonur cosmodrome (Kazakhstan). From December 26-30, the satellite remained in orbit, after which a problem arose. Angola’s Minister of Communications, José Carvalho de Rocha, immediately announced that he was preparing a replacement in the form of Angosat-2. Now it is known that the new model will be much more powerful, and the creation will be completed in 18 months.
The Angosat project has been a joint program of Russia and Angola since 2009. This is a control center located in a suburb of Luanda. The Angosat-1 satellite was supposed to improve satellite communications and provide access to the Internet, radio and television throughout Africa.
