SpaceX launches Egypt's Nilesat 301 telecom satellite into orbit


Nada AlTaher
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  • Arabic

SpaceX has successfully launched the Egyptian telecoms satellite Nilesat 301 from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the satellite, took at 11.04pm Cairo time on Wednesday.

Nilesat 301 will replace its predecessor, Nilesat 201, and has an expected lifespan of at least 15 years, Nilesat chief executive Ahmed Anis said as reported by state-owned newspaper Al Ahram.

Mr Anis said the new satellite will offer “expanded broadband internet services to cover Egypt, including remote areas, new projects, infrastructure projects, and new urban communities, as well as gas and oilfields in the eastern Mediterranean".

The 23rd Falcon 9 launch by SpaceX this year alone was the first time a satellite was carried towards a geostationary orbit, said space exploration website SpaceFlightNow.

SpaceX plans to launch up to five other Falcon 9 rockets this month.

Egypt was the first Arab nation to launch a telecoms satellite. Nilesat 101 went into orbit in 1998 and was followed by Nilesat 102 in two years later.

SpaceX has its own satellite service, Starlink, which provides high-speed, low latency broadband internet services to 32 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the UK and Ukraine.

SpaceX and Falcon 9

The Falcon 9 is SpaceX’s two-stage reusable rocket made up of three components: a reusable first part, an expendable second one and a reusable fairing.

The rocket, which is the first of its kind, is part of Elon Musk's space race against tech giants like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.

However, the Falcon 9's reusability has driven down the cost of launching rockets into space because the costliest equipment remains intact — during a successful launch — and returns to earth.

Despite the lack of official figures, some experts believe SpaceX's endeavours have contributed to making 2021 a record-breaking year for successful and attempted orbital launches.

Brief scoreline:

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Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

The biog

Age: 59

From: Giza Governorate, Egypt

Family: A daughter, two sons and wife

Favourite tree: Ghaf

Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense 

Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”

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Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows

Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.

Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.

The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.

After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.

The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.

The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.

But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.

It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.

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Updated: June 10, 2022, 1:13 PM`