At 04:33 on November 11, 2008, Beijing time, Nigeria Communication Satellite (Nigcomsat-1) failed after running out of power due to a failure in its solar array.
Project contractor China Great Wall immediately reported the technical failure and the status of its investigation to its Nigerian client, and is working actively with the satellite manufacturer and other parties to provide a rapid solution to its client.
Nigcomsat-1 was the first commercial in-orbit delivery contract won by CGWIC via open international bidding, and was also the first DFH-4 satellite manufactured and exported by China. Nigcomsat-1 was launched on a LM-3B launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre on May 14, 2007 and was delivered to Nigeria in-orbit on July 6. The satellite provided television broadcasting and telecommunications services to Nigeria.
Commercial telecommunication satellite programs are complex engineering systems characterized by high levels of investment, technology and risk. The rapidly developing Chinese aerospace industry is confident of its ability to overcome these temporary difficulties and continue to provide international customers with stable and reliable telecommunications satellite systems.
After the Nigcomsat-1 failure, modifications were made to the solar arrays on DFH-4 satellites.