Algeria continues its space venture

14/12/2005

Algeria joined the space club three years ago by producing its first remote sensing micro-satellite with British co-operation, which was then orbited by a Russian rocket. Today, the country is arousing international interest by planning a second more powerful satellite and a satellite assembly unit.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers -- 14/12/05

[File] ALSAT-1 launched from Russia in 2002

On 28 November 2002, the Cosmos M3 rocket left a launch pad in Russia carrying a small 100kg satellite named ALSAT-1 to an altitude of 686km. The $15m satellite is part of a group of seven microsatellites intended for global disaster prevention and management. Other countries participating in the programme are China, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and Britain.

Intended for multispectral image transmission, ALSAT-1 was the fruit of a partnership between the Algerian National Space Technology Centre (CNTS) and the Surrey Space Centre of Britain. A group of 11 researchers mastered the design and production process, while another team established and maintained contact with the satellite and now controls its operation from a base station at the CNTS.

ALSAT-1 has already transmitted more than 1,000 photos for the benefit of users in national and regional development, telecommunications, agriculture and the water resources sectors. It has also played a role following the earthquake that affected Algiers and surrounding areas in 2003, the tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia and recent French forest fires.

On the heels of the initial success, the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) has developed a 15-year satellite programme. It includes the production of a more powerful microsatellite called ALSAT-2, as well as a third satellite dedicated to telecommunications. The satellites and their successors will be partly assembled in a planned small satellite development unit to be located in Oran.

Despite missing some original planning deadlines, the ASAL has confirmed that it will continue to push forward with its space programme. Director Azzedine Oussedik announced that production of ALSAT-2 will begin early next year. Speaking on the third anniversary of the ALSAT-1 launch, he also credited British-Algerian co-operation for enabling the transfer of substantive space technology for the benefit of Algerian scientists. "We shall continue to work with our British colleagues on the ALSAT-2 project," he stated. But the British are not the only ones now in the picture as ASAL has signed several co-operation agreements with space agencies in countries including South Africa, Argentina, Russia, France and the United States.