Before focusing on AngoSat-2 our “first second” satellite, let's learn more about satellites 🛰️.
Satellite is an object in space that orbits or surrounds a larger object.
How many types are there?
There are two types of satellites, the natural ones, which come from nature, such as the earth and the moon. For example, the earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the earth.
What gives, to understand the natural satellites, they orbit each other. The same I don't know if it happens in the artificial ones.
Artificial, being created by man (like the International Space Station orbiting Earth) and AngoSat-2.
History shows that the idea of an artificial satellite in orbital flight was suggested by Isaac Newton, in his book “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica”, from 1687. He pointed out that a cannonball fired from the top of a mountain, at a sufficient speed and in a direction parallel to the horizon it would travel the Earth before falling.
How do artificial satellites work?
To reach orbit, they are launched by means of a rocket and their stay in space can be temporary or permanent. Something important to consider is the launch site, the closer to the Equator, the easier and less expensive the launch is, as the Earth's rotation speed is greater at this point, which requires less fuel to reach the required speed. . Reaching the desired altitude, the satellite is released.
There are two most common types of orbit, the geostationary ones, which according to the Wikipedia is the type of AngoSat-2 and the polar ones. A geostationary moves in the same direction and at the same speed as the earth. Because of this, seen from the ground it appears to be stationary. Polars travel from pole to pole, north to south.
A satellite's size, design, and other characteristics depend on its purpose, but most have at least two parts in common, which are:
- An antenna;
- An energy source.
The antenna is used to send and receive information and the energy source can be a battery or a solar panel, which produces energy by transforming sunlight into electricity.
Among the artificial satellites, both geostationary and polar have the foundation of:
- Help meteorologists predict the weather or see what's happening right now.
- To distribute telephony, internet and TV signals in various orbits, especially in geostationary orbits.
- There are also earth observation ones, which check the planet in search of changes (temperature, forests, ice sheet coverage, atc) and it is through this type of satellite that Pix Force obtains images to carry out its analyzes and processing .
- Other types include scientific ones, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, navigation satellites (GPS), and military ones.
According to pix force, we have 3 curious facts about satellites:
- The types of satellites that most grow in quantity are telephony, GPS and internet navigation;
- Communication satellites, including ours, are mainly in geostationary orbit, at an altitude of about 36 thousand kilometers, while satellites that photograph the surface of the planet are between 100 and 200 kilometers above the surface;
- The altitude of a geostationary satellite is about 35.860 km and its speed is about 11 km/h.
According to Jornal de Angola, the specialists who are handling the launch basically calculate that we will be able to have the services available from AngoSat-2 within approximately 5/6 months and 10 working days after the launch, with 3 phases, which are:
- 3 months of waiting for the first contact;
- 2 to 3 months to verify movements and functioning in orbit;
- And at least 10 days to reach its operational position.
It should be noted that AngoSat-2 will cover Africa and part of Southern Europe. And it has a useful life of 15 years.
After the launch, many Angolans have already written on the social networks of operators in the Angolan market asking the following question "We already have satellite, when will the balance price go down?"
In my opinion and based on my knowledge of telecommunications, it is still too early to have that answer.
AngoSat-2 is a communication satellite that comes to help in the following areas:
- Tv
- Radio
- Internet
- Telephony
But everything is a process, stabilization of the satellite in orbit, preparation at all levels of operators in the Angolan market to benefit from the services of AngoSat-2 in order to improve quality, and of course the much-desired price and expand its services from Cabinda to Cunene.
Our government will not only earn money by selling AngoSat-2 services into the country, as we already know, we have some African countries that have already expressed a desire to acquire our satellite services. Which is a good way to recoup the amount invested in it. Sell services inside and outside the country.
Remember that in the ranking of African countries with satellite we occupy the 7th position.
It is with these 7 that we hope that the 7-month test of AngoSat-2 will be a success and that we will begin to enjoy both the services and the beginning of the financial return invested.
