astronomy

Nilesat 101

Nilesat 101 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nilesat 101 rather than just read about it. In short: Nilesat 101 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite that was decommissioned in February 2013. Launch Nilesat 101 was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by Arianespace.

Key takeaways

Nilesat 101 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nilesat 101 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nilesat 101 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nilesat 101 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite that was decommissioned in February 2013.

Launch Nilesat 101 was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by Arianespace. The satellite is powered by solar arrays, and the power is stored aboard batteries.

Mission The satellite was manufactured by the European company Matra Marconi Space (Astrium), and started official broadcasting on 1 June 1998 with a mission life of 12 years. At launch the spacecraft had a gross mass of 1,666 kg.

Orbit It was parked at the geostationary orbital position of 7° West together with its sister Satellite Nilesat 102 and carries 12 Ku band 100 W high power wide beam transponders of 33 MHz bandwidth to provide digital communications and terrestrial Direct to Home ((DTH)) TV, radio broadcasting, multimedia and data services for countries in North Africa, South Europe and the Middle East. The two satellites carry approximately 150 TV channels, with 100 of those originally coming from Nilesat 101, covering all the Middle East countries; north from Southern Europe to Central Africa, south, and east from Iran to the Atlantic Ocean, west. Nilesat 101 provided service to more than five million homes.

Operations Nilesat 101 was operated by The Egyptian satellite Co. Nilesat that was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated mission control center and ground stations. The two control centers are located in Cairo and Alexandria.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nilesat 101

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nilesat 101 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nilesat 101 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nilesat 101 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nilesat 101

In research: Nilesat 101 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nilesat 101 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nilesat 101 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1998 in Egypt, Communications satellites in geostationary orbit, First artificial satellites of a country, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nilesat 101 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nilesat 101 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nilesat 101 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nilesat 101 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nilesat 101 in simple terms?

Nilesat 101 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite that was decommissioned in February 2013. Launch Nilesat 101 was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by Arianespace.

Why does Nilesat 101 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nilesat 101?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nilesat 101.