Nigeria and other countries in Sub-Saharan African will benefit from a SpaceX project that will expand internet serviced across the continent.
Global-IP Cayman, the innovative satellite communications company with the mission to bring cost-effective Internet and related value-added services to Sub-Saharan Africa, announced today it has signed a launch services agreement with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (“SpaceX”) for its first communication satellite GiSAT-1. GiSAT-1 is a High-Throughput Satellite (“HTS”) with 150 Gbps of capacity, currently under construction by The Boeing Company.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch GiSAT-1. The deployment is scheduled for Q4 2018 and will launch GiSAT-1 into its trajectory for geostationary orbit off the west coast of Africa. GiSAT-1 will have a mission life of 15 years.
Emil Youssefzadeh, co-founder of Global-IP, said, “Our agreement with SpaceX marks the completion of another major milestone towards getting our innovative service platform operational to serve a growing market with lagging Internet penetration.”
“We are pleased to partner with Global-IP for this important mission,” said Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO, SpaceX. “Once fully deployed, this satellite will expand Internet services across Sub-Saharan Africa, benefiting both consumers and businesses.”
Mr. Youssefzadeh noted, “Global-IP’s first HTS will cover areas across Sub-Saharan Africa with a combined population of over 800 million people. We envision our investment in this project will increase the Internet penetration across the region and contribute significantly to the economic growth of all the countries we will serve.”
