Angola: President gives green signal to AngoSat-3, signs decree for development with Airbus

President of Angola, João Lourenço has inked a presidential decree for the signature of a contract between Angola and Airbus. The objective is to construct an Earth Observation satellite named AngoSat-3.

This is Angola’s third attempt to put a satellite in orbit. The first geostationary communications satellite operated by AngoSat-1 (built by the Russian company RSC Energia) was the first communications satellite of Angola.

But the satellite suffered a power problem in the first hours of flight and was announced declared lost after repeated failures to establish contact. The first satellite (that had an investment of around 270 million euros) was designed to go into orbit from Baikonur and Kazakhstan. Now Russia is working on a replacement satellite for the South African country called AngoSat-2, which is expected to be delivered in late 2019.

The preamble of the presidential decree explains that the AngoSat-3 is a consequence of the Strategic Plan of the Management office of the National Space Program (GGPEN) 2019-2022 which establishes the objectives and general guidelines of Angola’s space activities, as reported by Space in Africa.

AngoSat-3 is expected to focus on the development and strategic positioning of the country. Angola’s Head of State, João Lourenço has approved the construction, launching and orbiting the earth observation satellite.

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