NileSat's launch of a new satellite puts the company ahead of the game, reports Fatmah Shaarawi Yesterday, at 23:30 Cairo time, NileSat 201 was placed in orbit by a rocket launched from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. The launch, by the rocket Ariane 5, transmitted live on Egypt's first satellite channel, lasted nearly 27 minutes. When fully operational in a month's time NileSat 201 will have 24 transponders on the Ku-band and four transponders on the Ka-band. Positioned at seven degrees, NileSat 201 will be able to cover the entire Arab region with high definition relay, Internet transmission and 3D broadcasts. The new satellite will eventually replace the ageing NileSat 101 and NileSat 102, in orbit since 1998 and 2000 respectively. The average lifespan of broadcast satellites is 15 years. NileSat 101 will be decommissioned in 2013, and NileSat 102 in 2015. Contacted by telephone at the Guiana Space Centre, NileSat Chairman Ahmed Anis said that the growth in Arab satellite business was good for the company as well as its clients. There is complete cooperation between NileSat and other Arab satellites in the region, those that are in operation and those planned for the next two years, he added. NileSat 201, says NileSat's chief technical officer Salah Hamza, will add to the capabilities of Egyptian satellite services. He called the new satellite, which is equipped to transmit high definition images (HDTV), a "quantum leap" into the future. The new satellite confirms Egypt's status as a leader in the field and will keep NileSat ahead of its regional competitors, meeting a wide range of television transmission and telecommunications needs for Egypt and the Arab world till 2025, Hamza said. The NileSat Company already transmits more than 560 television and 100 radio stations. The new satellite will be able to transmit at frequencies of up to 50 decibel watts in the Ku range and 52 decibel watts in the Ka range, allowing for a broadcast of 75,127,11 gegahertz in the Ku-band and 48,214,21 in the Ka-band. NileSat is now equipped to transmit high definition television as well as digital broadcast and 3D material. Egypt, says Hamza, is the first Arab and African country to have launched three satellite channels. The launch will allow Egypt to stay ahead in information technology, Internet services, and interactive systems, argued Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi. It means that Egyptian media will be able to control both its transmission hardware and national interests. "The new satellite is a basic and strategic media necessity, one that safeguards Egyptian radio and television transmission," he said. The new satellite will, for the first time, cover all of Sudan as well as the rest of the Arab world and parts of Europe. It will offer television broadcast as well as an unprecedented range of digital data transmission. It is, said El-Fiqi, "a milestone into the future and a breakthrough in technological initiative".
