Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat) is a public company listed on th
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)and a subsidiary of
Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, offering multi-mission satellite services in more than 150 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Asia and Australasia. The company offers voice, data, video and internet services for broadcast, Internet and VSAT 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 Middle East, Africa, Europe and South-West Asia regions.
In July 2008, Yahsat approved a consortium of
EADS Astrium
Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 1 ...
and
Thales Alenia
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...
to construct Yahsat's own
satellites, manufacturing took 36 months to be completed in Europe.
Arianespace
Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...
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 ( ar, القوات المسلحة لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa li-Dawlat al-ʾImārāt al-ʿArabīyyah al-Muttaḥidah) are the armed forces of the Unit ...
to provide secure satellite communications in the
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
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
SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to:
Business and economics
* Socioeconomic status
* Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland
* SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia)
* SES S.A., ...
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
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and
South West Asian region.
The first satellite was launched from the
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...
in
Kourou, French Guiana
Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is ...
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
''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur''
, image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg
, caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's "Gagarin's Start" Soyuz ...
in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
on April 24, 2012, at 22:18 GMT.
Yahsat Satellites
References
{{Reflist
Communications satellite operators
Telecommunications companies of the United Arab Emirates
High throughput satellites