Nigerian satellites tested at RAL

Tuesday, August 11. 2009
Remote sensing

Nigeria's NigeriaSat-2 and NX earth observation satellites are undergoing tests at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC’s) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Nigerian satellites at RAL
The two satellites in the SSTD at RAL
NigeriaSat-2 and NX are being built for Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and will form part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) when they are launched next year.

NigeriaSat-2 was designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), and is based on their latest SSTL-300 earth observation satellite platform will deliver a high-resolution (2.5 metre) imaging system onboard a highly agile platform.

NX, which is based on the SSTL-100 platform was built by Nigerian engineers as part of their training and development scheme at SSTL in Guildford, UK. It will provide 22-metre imaging, enhancing the capability that is currently provided by NigeriaSat-1, which was launched in 2003. These latest satellites will provide not only continuity to Nigeria’s current space capability, but significantly advance the country’s space assets.


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Ecuador volcano eruption caught by DMC satellite NigeriaSat-1

Thursday, January 31. 2008
Remote sensing

DMC International Imaging was on regular 24/7 duty as the Emergency On-Call Officer (ECO) for the International Charter; Space & Major Disasters from 21st to 28th January 2008. Gary Crowley, DMCii Operations Manager, coordinated the scheduling of images from DMC satellites as well as Envisat, Radarsat, ALOS, SPOT-5, IRS (Pan & LISS-3), Ikonos and QuickBird, for the Charter response to two disaster activation calls.

DMC image of the erupting Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador, showing the long plume of ash blackening the area (vegetation is false red) Image; NigeriaSat-1 25th Jan 2008 © NASRDA


Last Tuesday (22nd January) DMCii monitored a volcanic eruption in Ecuador. The images below are by kind permission of NASRDA.

Zoom of the volcano crater belching ash. Image; Nigeriasat-1 © NASRDA 2008


Just last Friday (25th January) the International Charter was activated to image flooding in Bolivia.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Remote sensing at 12:31 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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NigeriaSat (s) rocketing along

Friday, November 30. 2007

SSTL have successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for NigeriaSat-2. This review is of the finalised design of the NigeriaSat-2 spacecraft and ground segment and plans for the full satellite manufacture. The 300 kg satellite will provide Nigeria with valuable geographically referenced high-resolution satellite imaging for mapping, water resource management, agricultural land use, population estimation, health hazard monitoring and disaster mitigation and management. The higher resolution optical payload will enable Nigeria to join the second generation Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC).

SSTL-300 platform
This is an exciting period for the small satellite manufacturer, because NigeriaSat-2 will use the new, more agile SSTL-300 Earth Observation satellite platform.

Customer representatives from the National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA) have attended seven days of meetings at SSTL's headquarters in Guildford as part of the CDR.

Meanwhile during the third week in November, Nigeria's training satellite turned "real" satellite, codenamed NX has passed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) with flying colours. The Nigerian Know How Transfer and Training (KHTT) team carried out the PDR for NX, which was was originally planned purely for training engineers as part of the NigeriaSat-2 programme. The PDR marks a significant milestone for the project and reflects the confidence of Nigeria's National Space Research And Development Agency (NASDRA) in the continued development of their engineers under the SSTL KHTT programme.

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Nigerian ministerial visit

Friday, September 14. 2007

Nigeria's newly appointed Minister of Science, Chief Grace Ekpiwhre, began her new role with a visit to UK space company, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). The Honourable Minister was joined by Professor Robert Boroffice, Director-General, National Space Research and Development Agency, for briefing talks on a two-satellite contract currently under manufacture at SSTL for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Nigerian ministerial visit
A new-design SSTL-300 enhanced microsatellite, to be called N2, will boost the country's space capability with a high performance operational mission delivering the latest in high resolution Earth imaging, to join the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) when launched in 2009. The imaging system will include a high-resolution 2.5-metre panchromatic camera with two further multispectral imagers: 5-metre 4-band (20km swath) and medium resolution 22-metre 4-band (300km swath).

Mrs Ekpiwhre also met with 11 Nigerian engineers currently working alongside SSTL engineers on the development of a training satellite. The SSTL-100 satellite, to be called NX, is an integral part of a know-how transfer programme that is providing the Nigerian engineers with hands-on experience in all aspects of spacecraft analysis, build, integration and test. NX will carry a 22-metre multispectral imaging system with ultra-wide 600km swath. The engineers will fully manage the complete life-cycle of the satellite, with responsibility for the delivery of the spacecraft to full flight specification.

The Minister visited both SSTL sites in Guildford, including the manufacturing clean rooms where she saw modules for the N2 spacecraft under construction.

This latest contract is the second between SSTL and Nigeria. NigeriaSat-1 was launched into the DMC in 2003 and continues to provide the country with 32-metre resolution imaging, used by the Government to monitor pollution, manage land use and monitor medium-scale changes to the landscape. N2 will enhance that capability significantly, providing Nigeria with hundreds of valuable geographically referenced images each day, for applications in mapping, water resource management, agricultural land use, population estimation, health hazard monitoring and disaster mitigation and management.

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