MILLIONS of Nigerians sat glued to TV sets last Saturday as they watched a live broadcast of their nation’s first satellite being launched. The £13 million Nigeriasat-1 took off from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome, before being placed in a polar orbit. It was one of six satellites on board the two-stage Russian rocket.
But there were mixed feelings about the project. Normally, £13 million for a satellite would be a bargain, but for a developing country like Nigeria it’s a bit of a gamble. The satellite will help monitor water resources, soil erosion and deforestation. It will also watch for droughts,…
