First Egyptian Remote Sensing Satellite to Be Launched: Official

First Egyptian remote sensing satellite to be launched: official

CAIRO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — The first Egyptian remote sensing satellite will soon be launched from a base in Kazakhstan, an Egyptian space official confirmed to Xinhua on Wednesday.

“The satellite will be launched within a short period of time from a base in Kazakhstan,” said the official from the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, who declined to be named.

In a phone interview, the official confirmed the report of the upcoming satellite launch by the Egyptian daily Arabic Al-Ahram on Tuesday.

The report quoted Ayman Desouqi, Director of the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, as saying “we will soon complete the final stage for launching the first satellite for remote sensing and scientific research, ‘Misr Sat 1′.”

No precise date for the launch was given, but Desouqi said that the satellite would be launched from a base in Kazakhstan, according to the report.

The report also denied that the satellite would be launched on Tuesday, as reported Monday by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth on its website.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s report described the satellite as Egypt’s ” first spy satellite” and quoted experts in Israel as saying that the satellite will “allow the Egyptians to keep a close eye on what goes on in Israel as well.”

The 100-kg satellite is Ukrainian built and capable of taking black and white pictures from an orbital height of 410 miles ( about 660 km), which could provide accurate intelligence material, according to Yedioth Ahronoth’s report.

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