Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 (pictured) developed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus will continue to provide secure satellite services to the UAE government under a USD5.1 billion agreement with Yahsat until they are replaced with the new Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites being built by Airbus. (Yahsat)
United Arab Emirates (UAE) company Yahsat has been awarded a major AED18.7 billion (USD5.1 billion) deal to provide satellite services to the UAE government, the company announced on 22 September.
Under the 17-year Authorisation to Proceed (ATP) agreement, Yahsat will supply the government with secure and reliable satellite capacity afforded by the Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 satellites from 2026 onwards. This will be supplemented by two new planned satellites – Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 – which are expected to be launched in 2027 and 2028 respectively, the announcement said.
In 2024 Yahsat will receive an advance payment of USD1 billion from the UAE government under the mandate agreement.
The ATP mandate will replace existing agreements, Capacity Services Agreement and the Managed Services Mandate (MSM), which are expected to conclude in November and December 2026 respectively.
Maintenance and technology management of ground segment satellite systems and terminals will also be provided under the ATP agreement.
In June 2023 Yahsat signed an ATP agreement with Airbus to develop the latest Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites. According to the announcement, this will preserve the programme's schedule.
The latest satellites will have increased capacity and double the bandwidth compared with the existing systems, Eisa Al Shamsi, general manager at Yahsat Government Solutions, told Janes at IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi.
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