China launches 1st Algerian satellite to enhance communication services

Beijing, December 11: China has launched Algeria's first communication satellite, Alcomsat-1, into an orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan today. The satellite was the first cooperative project in the aerospace industry between the two countries. It will be used by Algeria for broadcast and television, emergency communication, distance education, e-governance etc.

The Alcomsat 1 spacecraft rode a Chinese Long March 3B rocket into orbit from the Xichang space center in Sichuan province, a mountainous launch base in the southwestern part of the country.

The 184-foot-tall (56-meter) Long March 3B launcher lifted off at 1640 GMT (11:40 a.m. EST) Sunday from Xichang and headed southeast, dropping its four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters around 2 minutes, 20 seconds, into the mission.

The Algeria Press Service, owned by the Algerian government, also reported the launch was successful, claiming the Alcomsat 1 spacecraft was injected into an elliptical “supersynchronous” transfer orbit arcing as high as 26,100 miles (42,000 kilometers) above Earth, circling the planet on a track tilted 26.4 degrees.

China Great Wall Industry Corp. said the Alcomsat 1 spacecraft is based on the DFH-4 satellite design manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology. Built for a 15-year service life, Alcomsat 1 carries 33 operational transponders 19 in Ku-band, 12 in Ka-band and two in L-band, CGWIC said in a statement.

China has launched similar communications satellites under contracts with the governments of Nigeria, Venezuela, Pakistan, Bolivia, Belarus and Laos. Future Chinese-built geostationary telecom craft are under construction for Nicaragua and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for launches as soon as next year.