MISSION NAME
Nilesat 101 & BSat 1b
Status
Success
DATE
28 APR 1998
LAUNCH PROVIDER
Arianespace
Launch Pad
Ariane Launch Area 2
Description
With the launch of Nilesat 101 on 28 April 1998, delivering more than 100 digital TV channels as well as radio and multimedia services to more than five million homes over the whole of North Africa from Morocco to the Persian Gulf, Egypt became the first African country to have its own direct TV broadcast satellite. A second satellite, Nilesat 102, was launched in 2000, and the Nilesat system now broadcasts more than 150 digital TV channels and provides additional services such as data transmission, turbo internet and multicasting applications. BSAT-1a and -1b replaced the two BS-3 spacecraft used for DBS services, including Hi-Vision test broadcasts, by NHK, WOWOW, and others. Hughes selected the Ariane rocket as the launch vehicle for the BSAT-1 spacecraft. BSAT-1a was launched 16 April 1997 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. BSAT-1b was also launched from Kourou on 28 April 1998. The two satellites are located at 110 degrees East longitude.
Ariane 44P
Rocket Description
The Ariane 4 was an expendable space launch system, developed by the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arianespace. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the final flight on 15 February 2003, it attained 113 successful launches out of 116 total launches.