The NigeriaSat-2 Programme: Leading Africa in Space
- Paper number
IAC-07-B4.1.02
- Author
Mr. Francis Chizea, National Space Research and Development Agency, Nigeria
- Coauthor
Mr. Ibrahim Halidu, Nigeria
- Coauthor
Prof. Robert A. Boroffice, Nigeria
- Coauthor
Prof. Martin Sweeting, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Mr. Luis Gomes, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., United Kingdom
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Since the year 2000, Nigeria has pursued a detailed plan to use space assets as a fundamental part of its continual development, tasking NASRDA, the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency with implementing this plan by procuring the necessary assets and managing them. The first step in this process was the NigeriaSat-1 program, which included the acquisition of both a space and ground segment and the advanced training of a team of Nigerian engineers in the design, operation and use of the system. The resulting satellite, NigeriaSat-1, was launched in 2003 and has since provided Nigeria with valuable remote sensing data, used by several institutions inside and outside Nigeria. Following on this successful programme, NASRDA signed a contract with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in November 2006, for the supply of a highly advanced Earth Observation satellite and associated ground segment and image processing system. The programme includes the training of 25 Nigerian engineers as part of a Know-How and Technology Training (KHTT) programme, and is scheduled to start operations at the end of 2009, controlled from a new sate-of-art facility in Abuja. Designed to provide advanced capabilities for land and resource management, the mission boasts a 2.5m GSD panchromatic imaging capability together with 5m GSD 4-band capability and a wide swath 32m GSD 4-band imager. This capability is supported on the ground with a full system for processing, archiving and cataloguing of images, allowing a fast and efficient distribution of the data to the users, from the Abuja facility. This paper will present the objectives of the NigeriaSat-2 programme, its organisation and describe its implementation. Furthermore, a summary of the results from the NigeriaSat-1 programme will also be presented and a comparison between the two programme’s objectives will be given.
- Abstract document