After a troubled launch earlier this year, Yahsat’s Al Yah-3 communications satellite is now operational, and it is ready to propel the UAE-based company into new markets.
Yahsat, a global satellite operator based in the UAE, just announced that its third satellite, Al Yah-3, located at 20 °W, has successfully completed its in-orbit testing and is ready to support the launch of commercial services.
The satellite will expand Yahsat’s Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa – covering 60% of its population. It also marks Yahsat’s first entry into Brazil, where 95% of the population will have access to its satellite broadband services.
“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,” said Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat. “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 on our previous work pioneering such services across Africa, the Middle East, and south-west Asia.”
This mission is especially significant to the UAE since Al Yah-3 was designed and built with Emirati engineers leading at every stage of the process, in partnership with Orbital ATK. The Emirati engineers were critical to ensuring the successful end-to-end delivery of the satellite into orbit.
“It has been an incredible journey for us and a very proud moment for both Yahsat and for the UAE,” Mahmood added. “Our engineers have been heavily involved in managing all aspects of the project, including design, development, and launch. We are now focusing on the commercial launch of our services using Al Yah-3 over the coming weeks.”
Al Yah-3, an all Ka-band satellite, and the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3™ satellite completed by Orbital ATK, was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket by Arianespace, on 26 January 2018.
