Angosat1, the first Angolan satellite is scheduled to be put into orbit in the third quarter of the year, said on Thursday in Luanda the minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, José Carvalho da Rocha.

During a visit to the Centre for Satellite Control, located in the municipality of Cacuaco, in Luanda, the minister said that both the satellite and the control centre are ready “but the technicians who will receive and decode the signals that Angosat1 will emit are currently in training.”

With Angosat1 in orbit, said Rocha, rather than acquiring bandwidth from regional satellites will be able to do so from the Angolan satellite, “with payment in local currency.”

Cited by Angolan news agency Angop, the minister recalled that the lifetime of a satellite is about 15 years but said before that ends the government will commission a new one.

The Director of the Satellite Control Centre Mário João, said 45 technicians who will take control of Angosat1 satellite are undergoing training, particularly in the areas of planning, analysis and supervisory shifts.

Angosat1 will be Angola’s first communications satellite. It was ordered from a Russian consortium that includes RSC (Rocket Space Corporation) Energia, Telecom-Projecto 5 and Rosoboronexport, which heads the group. (macauhub)