Report: Nigcomsat 1 Declared ‘Total Loss’

 [Satellite Today] The Nigcomsat 1 spacecraft, shut down Nov. 9 after suffering power problems, has lost both solar arrays and is “a total loss,” according to press reports.
     T. Ahmed Rufai, CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd. (Nigcomsat), testified before Nigeria’s House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology that the spacecraft has been placed in a parking orbit and cannot be recovered, according to AllAfrica.com.
     Satellite manufacturer China Great Wall Industry Corp. confirmed Nov. 12 that NigComSat 1 was suffering from power problems, but Nigcomsat at that time denied that it had lost the spacecraft. Rufai said the arrays were lost in separate incidents, the first in April and the second Nov. 9.
     NigComSat 1, built at a cost of about $450 million, was launched in May 2007.