"Angosat-2 is technically ready to be launched, it is already in the satellite launch area and should be launched into orbit on October 12th", announced the minister.
The holder of the Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communications portfolio also referred that after the launch a set of "technical maneuvers" are imposed that take between 90 and 120 days until the device is ready to be used.
"The launch of the satellite then implies a set of technical maneuvers that take around 90 to 120 days for the satellite to be able to be used as such", he said, quoted by Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA).
The satellite, he continued, covers the entire African continent and a part of Europe: "It covers all of Africa, it covers a significant part of Europe."
Furthermore, he informed that they have been contacting countries on the African continent to provide them with services, including in the telecommunications sector.
"We have been contacting African countries, particularly in our region, in order to be able to also provide services to these countries, services of various natures, especially telecommunications services", he said, quoted by RNA.
However, he also reported that some countries, namely SADC, have shown interest in these services. "There are already expressions of interest from countries in the region and beyond, and because there is a policy at the level of satellites here in the SADC region, the interaction is very large because, not only in relation to Angosat-2, Angola is leading the project for the departure of SADC satellites and within that context we have also been working towards presenting Angosat-2 to the countries in the region", he said, quoted by RNA.
Mário Oliveira also considered that placing this satellite in orbit will ensure the expansion of telecommunications services in the country: "The expansion of telecommunications services throughout the country and with the expansion of the telecommunications service comes telemedicine, teleworking, everything this based on the Internet service it is capable of supporting".
He also mentioned the cost of services, clarifying that prices are not yet determined. However, he left the guarantee that they will work so that "there are fair and compatible prices" according to the needs of the market.
"It is natural that some work on prices, which is not defined, because in the definition of the price of a product there are a series of components that not only the means of communication. What we can guarantee is that we will work from the perspective that there are fair prices compatible with what are the needs of our market", added the minister, quoted by RNA.
Angosat-2 replaces Angosat-1, which after entering orbit in 2017 lost contact with Earth.
