Shortly after launch, communication with the device\u00a0was lost<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite restoring contact several days later, the project had several technical issues in the following months, eventually leading to the announcement of its official loss on Monday.<\/p>\n Russia, who built the AngoSat-1 on behalf of\u00a0<\/span>Angola<\/a>, said it would start building a more powerful follow-up satellite at no cost, as per AngoSat-1’s insurance policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n INFOGRAPHIC<\/a><\/p>\n The new satellite will take about 18 months to build and will launch in 2020, Russia’s space agency said.<\/p>\n AngoSat-1, Angola’s first space project, was scheduled to work for 15 years and was made to improve telecommunications in the African country.<\/p>\n About 50 Angolan aerospace engineers were trained around the world and were supposed to oversee the mission from a control centre in Angola.<\/p>\n In 2017, Angola made public its long-term plans for its space programme, showing ambition for a steady expansion in the coming years.<\/p>\n It is unclear how the failure of AngoSat-1 will affect that multiyear plan.<\/p>\n Angola is one of few sub-Saharan countries with a space programme.<\/p>\n![\"Does](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/mritems\/imagecache\/mbdresplarge\/mritems\/Images\/2018\/2\/15\/83b4c3c8553140edbf2a2c1ac4ccc0bf_18.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nDoes your country have a satellite orbiting the earth?<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n