Nigeria Signs NigComSat-2A Satellite Manufacturing Contract with Thales Alenia Space

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 14, Nigeria's state-owned satellite operator NIGCOMSAT Ltd and Thales Alenia Space formally signed a contract for the development of the NigComSat-2A communications satellite. Under the contract, Thales Alenia Space will develop a new-generation communications satellite operating in geostationary orbit for Nigeria, marking the project's transition from the previous government approval and procurement preparation stage to the execution stage of a specific satellite development contract.

NigComSat-2A will be used for communications services such as television broadcasting, internet access, voice communications, and streaming, and will provide satellite connectivity to areas with insufficient terrestrial communications infrastructure coverage. Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture space company 67% owned by Thales and 33% owned by Leonardo, and it will directly undertake the satellite development task under this contract. Officials currently define NigComSat-2A explicitly as a geostationary orbit communications satellite.

NigComSat-2A is part of Nigeria's approved NigComSat-2A and NigComSat-2B next-generation communications satellite program. NIGCOMSAT previously confirmed that Nigeria's Federal Executive Council had approved the two-satellite project; prior to that approval, NIGCOMSAT had also discussed financing options for the 2A and 2B satellite projects with an investment institution under Nigeria's Ministry of Finance. With the signing of the 2A satellite manufacturing contract, the project chain has advanced further from the financing and government approval stages to the supplier development stage.

NIGCOMSAT's existing core on-orbit asset is NigComSat-1R, which carries Ku-, Ka-, C-, and L-band communications payloads, with related operational support provided by Nigeria's ground network operations center and satellite control center. NigComSat-2A will serve as part of the country's next-generation satellite communications infrastructure, forming a follow-on asset replacement and capacity expansion relationship with the existing satellite operations system.