China takes Africa into space

Source: Xinhua News Agency | 05-14-2007 09:14

Monday morning saw a new chapter of the conquest of space be written as China launched a communications satellite for Nigeria, a seemingly innocuous event which in fact represented the first such launch for Africa and the inaugural space piggy-back ride given by China to a foreign nation.

The carrier rocket, Long March 3-B, blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:01 Monday with reports from the Xi'an Satellite Control Center confirming the satellite had properly entered orbit.

The Nigerian Communication Satellite, or NIGCOMSAT-1, is a super hybrid geo-stationary satellite designed to cover Africa, parts of the Middle East and southern Europe.

The West African nation sent a high-level delegation to the launch headed up by the Minister of Science and Technology, Turner Isoun with the Nigeria Television Authority broadcasting the whole launching process and ceremony live.