Government sources last weekend stated the deal was sealed last week between both companies and representatives of Nigeria and China. NigComSat-1 disappeared on November 10th last year as a result of power failure, throwing many businesses and corporate organisations into a dilemma as there was no backup. Officials of NigComSat said the reason for the building of two additional satellites was principally to serve as backup and forestall a situation where businesses crash along with a failed satellite. The replacement of NigComSat-1 will be concluded in the last quarter of next year (2010), while NigCOmSat-2 and NigComSat-3 will come on stream six months and 12 months, respectively, from the re-launch of NigComSat-1.
China wants a staggered plan for the launch of NigComSat- 2 and NigComSat-3 built into the new deal as part of the strategy to avoid the dilemma faced by customers when the solar panel of Africa's first communication satellite failed last year. The Chinese are going ahead with the building of the replacement satellite for NigComSat-1, while under-writers work on insurance claims by China and Nigeria. NigcomSat-1 was built by the CGWIC at a cost of $256 million. Operated by NigComSat Limited, it became the first African geosynchronous communications satellite when it was launched. NigComSat-1 was insured by a consortium of international insurance firms — including SpaceCo of France, Munich Cray of Germany, and the People's Insurance Company of China. Local insurance companies, which banded together as co-insurers, retained about 10 per cent of the risks and shared an equivalent percentage of the premium. China is also providing the lead fund for the replacement of the NigComSat-1 and the subsequent launch of the two back-up satellites, a senior ministry official said in Abuja.
(Source: The Guardian News, Sonny Aragba-Akpore)