AngoSat 2 is an

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

that is designed to provide telecommunications and broadcasting services to

and the surrounding regions. It is the successor to the AngoSat 1 satellite, which was launched in 2017 but experienced technical difficulties and was declared dead and a total loss. AngoSat-2 was developed to replace AngoSat-1 and to enhance Angola's communication infrastructure.

Development and construction

AngoSat-2 was developed as a joint venture between the

Angolan government The Cabinet of Angola is the chief executive body of the Republic of Angola. References External links governo.gov.ao (in Portuguese) {{Authority control Cabinet Angolan ministers Ministers Angola Angola, officially the R ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The project was overseen by the , in partnership with

RSC Energia S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the first chief o ...

, a Russian aerospace company. The satellite was constructed by RSC Energia at its facilities in Russia. The development and construction of AngoSat-2 involved collaboration between Angolan and Russian engineers and scientists. The satellite was designed to be compatible with the

Proton-M The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an Expendable launch system, expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet Union, Soviet-developed Proton (rocket family), Proton. It is built by Khrunichev State R ...

or Breeze-M launch vehicle, which is capable of placing the satellite into geostationary orbit.

Specifications

The payload of Angosat-2 consists of two telecommunications payloads: * A C band payload with 12

transponders In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

, which will be used for fixed and mobile communications, as well as for digital television broadcasting. * A

Ku band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K ban ...

payload with 16 transponders, which will be used for broadband internet access. The total payload mass of Angosat-2 is 1,647 kilograms. The satellite is designed to have a service life of 15 years.

Launch and deployment

AngoSat-2 was launched on 12 October 2022 from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The satellite was deployed into a

Geostationary transfer orbit In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...

(GTO) using a Proton-M/Breeze-M launch vehicle. After reaching the GTO, onboard propulsion systems were used to maneuver AngoSat-2 into its final geostationary orbit, where it will remain stationary relative to Earth's surface. It reached its final position (23E) on 3 November 2022.

References

{{reflist 2022 in Angola Satellites of Angola Spacecraft launched in 2022 ChatGPT

Development and construction

Specifications

Launch and deployment

See also

References