Space

Russia plans to launch Nigerian satellites in December

RIA Novosti

01:42 18/11/2010 ABUJA (Nigeria), November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is planning to launch two Nigerian satellites into orbit in December, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X earth monitoring satellites will be launched to a solar-synchronized orbit by a Russian-Ukrainian Dnepr heavy carrier rocket.

"We are planning to launch two Nigerian satellites on board our carrier [rocket] in December," Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday after a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Odein Ajumogobia in Abuja.

NigeriaSat-2 will be used primarily for resource management and mapping of the Nigerian territory, while NigeriaSat-X will assist with disaster relief and global environmental monitoring campaigns.

Nigeria became the third African country to enter the space age, after South Africa and Algeria, when Russia launched NigeriaSat-1 earth monitoring satellite in 2003.