EgyptSat 1
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EgyptSat-1 is Egypt's first Earth remote-sounding satellite. This satellite has been jointly built by Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences together with the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Ukraine and was launched onboard a Dnepr1 rocket on 17 April 2007.
Egypt has already launched a number of satellites for nonscientific purposes. Nilesat 101 was launched in 1998, Nilesat 102 in 2000, and Nilesat 103 in 2007. These satellites are capable of delivering more than 400 TV. & 100 Audio Channels as well as up to date multimedia services to Tens of millions homes over North Africa, the Middle East, (from Morocco to the Persian Gulf region) and Southern Europe.
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[edit] Equipment
Egyptsat-1 is considered a Miniaturized satellite weighing only 100 kg and is carrying two devices:
- An infrared sensing device
- A high resolution multispectral imager together with store and forward communications payload.
[edit] Suspected purposes
EgyptSat 1 is suspected by Israeli officials to be a spy satellite with sole purpose of spying and gathering intelligence on Israeli military facilities.[citation needed] Egypt is launching three more satellites DesertSat 1, EgyptSat 2 and DesertSat 2 respectively.
