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 and

Thales Alenia Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A Joint venture, joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo S.p.A., Leonardo (33%), the company is th ...

to construct Yahsat's own

satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

, manufacturing took 36 months to be completed in Europe. Arianespace 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 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 Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

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 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 (ILS) on a

Proton Breeze M Proton (Russian: Протон) (formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are stil ...

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 ...

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