UAE satellite ready to offer commercial services
IT WILL PROVIDE BROADBAND SERVICES TO COUNTRIES FAR AND WIDE
Brazil and African countries will soon have access to high-speed broadband internet connection through a UAE-operated satellite that will begin offering commercial services in the coming weeks.
Al Yah 3, launched by global satellite operator Yahsat, has completed its orbit testing, the company said yesterday. The satellite is Yahsat’s third in the orbit that will expand the Abu Dhabi-based company’s Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa covering 60 per cent of the population and 95 per cent of Brazil’s population.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, commended the success of Al Yah 3. “This is yet another achievement for the Emirati youth and the UAE. Today, the UAE youth are reaching new heights and realising new achievement and ambition. This is what Zayed wanted them to be,” Shaikh Mohammad tweeted.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also lauded the Yahsat team for their achievement and assured them of the country’s continuous support.
The third satellite launched by UAE-based global satellite operator Yahsat into space this year has completed its orbit testing and is now ready to start offering commercial services, it was announced yesterday.
Yahsat, wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, in a statement yesterday, announced the successful mission completion of Al Yah 3 located at 20W. The satellite was launched into orbit from French Guiana last January to expand Yahsat’s Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa covering 60 per cent of the population.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has commended the successful launch of Yahsat 3.
In a series of tweets yesterday, Shaikh Mohammad said: “This is yet another achievement for the Emirati youth and the UAE. The satellite Yahsat 3 was successfully launched with the participation and management of the UAE. Today, the UAE youth are reaching new heights and realising new achievement and ambition. This is what Zayed wanted them to be.”
Objectives
“The UAE space project is rapidly moving forward thanks to the unlimited support and continuous follow-up by my brother Mohammad Bin Zayed. Our investments in the aerospace sector amount to Dh20 billion. We have the largest space sector in the region and soon the first Arab probe will reach Mars. Thank you Mohammad Bin Zayed,” Shaikh Mohammad tweeted.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also lauded the Yahsat team for their success and assured them of the country’s continuous support.
“Congratulations to all Yahsat teams and partners. We will continue to support our ambitious youth and national institutions and invest in the development of technologies to serve our strategic objectives and benefit the people,” Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed said in a tweet.
“The UAE is making great strides in the field of the future sciences and communications technology. The success of the Yahsat satellite mission, with the participation of talented young Emiratis, embodies our vision to build a better future for the UAE and humanity,” he added.
Al Yah 3 is the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3 satellite to be completed by Orbital ATK. Its manufacturing involved a project management team comprising Emirati engineers who have been based at Orbital ATK’s satellite manufacturing facility in Virginia, US. The engineers were critical in ensuring the successful end-to-end delivery of the satellite into orbit.
Broadband push
This success marks Yahsat’s first entry into Brazil, where 95 per cent of the population will have access to its satellite broadband services. Yahsat is the first company in the Middle East and Africa to offer multi-purpose satellite services.
Masoud M. Sharif Mahmoud, CEO of Yahsat, said access to the internet is a key facilitator of social and economic progress.
“Today, broadband connectivity is playing an important role in creating new opportunities and in accelerating innovation. We are excited by the opportunity Al Yah 3 brings in our ability to deliver reliable and affordable satellite broadband services to parts of the world that need it the most, building upon our previous achievements as pioneers of such services across Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia,” he said.
During its launch in January, the satellite briefly “lost” contact with the European Space Centre in Kourou. Three hours after launch, however, the slight hiccup was sorted out.
Yahsat has already launched two satellites — Al Yah 1 in 2011 and Al Yah 2 in 2012. Both satellites provide broadband and communication services to 140 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, among others.