Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat) is a public company listed on the

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) () is a stock exchange in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Established in November 2000, ADX has grown significantly over the years, evolving into a dynamic platform for trading and investment, with a repu ...

(ADX) and a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, offering multi-mission satellite services in more than 150 countries across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The company offers voice, data, video and internet services for broadcast, Internet and

VSAT A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a satellite dish, dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 ...

users for both private and government organisations.

Corporate history

Incorporated in January 2008, the company had an aim of developing, operating and using multi-purpose (Government and commercial) communications satellite systems for the

and

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

regions. In July 2008, Yahsat approved a consortium of

EADS Astrium Astrium was a European aerospace company and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), headquartered in Paris. It designed, developed and manufactured civil and military space systems and provided related services ...

and Thales Alenia to construct Yahsat's own

satellites A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scientif ...

, whose manufacturing took 36 months to be completed in Europe.

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

were appointed to launch the first satellite Al Yah 1, currently positioned at 52.5° East. In August 2008, Yahsat signed a 15-year lease agreement with the

UAE Armed Forces The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces () are the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. They consist of the UAE Army, UAE Navy, UAE Air Force, UAE Presidential Guard, UAE Joint Aviation Command, and the UAE National Guard. They were ni ...

to provide secure satellite communications in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

as Yahsat's first government customer. As part of this contract, Yahsat will supply the ground terminals and gateway infrastructure for satellite network services. In August 2009, Yahsat entered into a partnership with European satellite operator SES to create a new company operating under the brand name YahLive, offering Direct-to-Home (DTH) television capacity and services to more than two dozen countries in the

MENA region The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

. In December 2023, the company announced that it would be merging with Emirati firm Bayanat to form a new company Space42, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. In August 2024 in cooperation with Bayanat they launched the UAE's first SAR satellite that will enhance observations of Earth.

Yahsat satellites

The first satellite was launched from the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

in Kourou, French Guiana on 22 April 2011. A second satellite (Al Yah 2), weighing approx. 6 tons, has been launched by

International Launch Services International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS) is a joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Angara and Proton rocket launch services. Proton launches take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan while Angara is l ...

(ILS) on a Proton Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonour Kosmodrome in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on April 24, 2012, at 22:18 GMT.

References

{{Reflist Mubadala Investment Company Telecommunications companies established in 2007 Emirati companies established in 2007 Companies based in Abu Dhabi Communications satellite operators Telecommunications companies of the United Arab Emirates High throughput satellites