Nigeria Contracts Thales and IAI to Build New Communications Satellites
Nigeria has contracted French firm Thales and Israel's IAI to build new communications satellites, representing a sovereign infrastructure commitment for the country's space programme. The deal is described as a milestone for national communications infrastructure on the continent.
Nigeria's Satellites: a contract is not yet a bird in the sky
Moving from government approval to signed contract with credible builders — Thales and IAI — is a real step forward. The ecosystem should register it.
But approval came just six days ago, and the launches aren't targeted until 2028 or 2029 at the earliest. Meanwhile Starlink is closing in on Spectranet's entire subscriber base without waiting for anyone's approval.
Sovereign infrastructure matters. The uncomfortable question is whether Nigeria's homegrown satellites arrive in time to shape the market — or land into a connectivity landscape that foreign operators have already divided up.
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- Nigeria picks French, Israeli firms to build new communications satellites · techcabal.com · T1