[FPSPACE] Egypt launches first reconnaisance satellite

[pjp]

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2007/january/01_17_4.html

 

 

CAIRO [MENL] -- Egypt plans to launch its first reconnaissance satellite. 

Industry sources said the EgyptSat-1 would be launched from a facility in
Kazakhstan on Tuesday. They said the mini-satellite would be capable of
relaying multi-spectral and infrared images of the Middle East to an
Egyptian ground station. 

EgyptSat was said to weigh less than 100 kilograms and contain a high
resolution capability of four meters. The satellite, manufactured by
Ukraine's Yuzhnoye and launched on a Dnepr rocket, was designed to orbit the
earth at an altitude of 668 kilometers. 

This would be the first of two satellite launches planned by Egypt in 2007.
By the end of the year, Egypt plans to launch DesertSat, manufactured in
Italy. DesertSat would be launched along with 12 mini-satellites from Saudi
Arabia.

 

 

This brings up the question.is there a launch pad platform in Saudi Arabia?
Does anyone have more details?