Roundup: Egypt's launch of Tiba-1 satellite "leap in communication sector": cabinet

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CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has launched its first communication satellite into orbit late on Tuesday, which will improve the country's communications infrastructure, said Egyptian cabinet in a statement on Wednesday.

"The new satellite will cause a leap in the communications and IT sectors, and will improve the communications infrastructure, internet services and attract investment," it added.

"The new satellite, positioned at 35.5-degree East, constitutes a corner stone for boosting several developmental projects that Egypt has been establishing," the statement said.

Tiba-1, which will be owned and operated by the government of Egypt, will cover all of Egypt and provide telecommunication and internet services to remote and isolated areas, it said.

The 5.6-tone satellite was launched on one of Europe's Arianespace rockets from a space center in French Guiana. It will be operational within three months of the launch.

It was scheduled to launch last Friday, but was delayed due to a malfunction in the power supply to the launching platform.

Mohamed El-Qousy, head of the Egyptian Space Agency, said on Monday that the decision to postpone the launch was due to weather conditions and the wind.

"The satellite will provide Egypt with a parallel communications network alongside the current land network and a strong telecommunications infrastructure," EL-Qousy was quoted by Ahram newspaper as saying.

The growth of the economy depends on a strong communication network, he added.

The cabinet confirmed the new satellite, planned to remain in orbit for about 15 years, will serve the commercial and governmental sectors in Egypt and a number of Arab and Nile-basin countries.

"Egypt now walks steadily towards digital transformation and smart transfer systems," the cabinet added, noting that Egypt has set national strategy for artificial intelligence.

The cabinet reiterated that the new satellite will help Egypt in swiftly achieving the goals of the sustainable development plans, building qualifying digital base for employing the young people, moving toward digital economy, and facilitating access to educational and health services across the county.

The satellite is a civil and government telecommunications satellite, developed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space as co-prime contractors, with Thales Alenia Space acting as the consortium's lead partner.

Airbus Defence and Space supplied the platform and also assembled and tested the spacecraft. Thales Alenia Space designed and built the communications payload, which will provide broadband communications in Ka band.

Tiba-1 is the fourth satellite launched by Arianespace for Egypt.

Egypt became the first Arab country to put telecommunications satellite into space with the launch of NileSate 101 in 1998, according to local media.

It was followed in 2000 by NileSate 102, which helped distribute hundreds of satellite TV channels. Enditem

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