EgSA chief says ‘Nexsat-1’ to be launched from China by year-end

CAIRO – CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) Sherif Sedky said that the “Nexsat-1” to be launched from China by the end of the current year after successfully completing all tests in Germany.

In statements to MENA on Friday, Sedky said that the agency’s current plan aims at acquiring satellite technology and establishing a “satellite constellation”, a group of artificial satellites working together as a system, a matter that will contribute to strengthening Egypt’s leading role in Africa in the space science and technology domain.

He further noted that “NexSat” is the second satellite that will be launched from the launch station in China during the coming months of November or December, after “EgyptSat 2” satellite, which is set to be launched in October.

EgyptSat 2 (MisrSat 2) is Egypt’s second Earth remote-sounding satellite. The satellite is jointly built by Egypt’s National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, together with RKK Energiya in Russia.

EgyptSat-2 has a resolution of 1 m in panchromatic mode and 4 m in multispectral mode. The camera can take both single frame images or stereoscopic images and can operate in push-broom continuous imaging mode or in a cartographic mode.