Yahsat contracts Airbus for construction of Al Yah 4, Al Yah 5 satellites

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, otherwise known as Yahsat, announced on Monday it has signed a deal for Airbus to build its new geostationary telecommunications satellites Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5) satellites.

Airbus will design and construct the satellites based on the Eurostar Neo platform, with each having flexible payloads and benefiting from the strong heritage of the Eurostar family. The flexible multi-band payloads can be fully reconfigured while in orbit, capable of adjusting the coverage area, capacity and frequency “on the fly” to meet evolving mission scenarios.

Both spacecraft will have a design life of 15 years and are planned to be launched in 2027 and 2028 respectively.

Both AY4 and AY5 satellites will offer secure governmental communications over a wide geographical area across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. The new advanced satellites will eventually replace Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2, which were launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and based on a previous version of the Airbus-built Eurostar platform.

The full cost of the AY4 and AY5 procurement programme, encompassing spacecraft, ground segment infrastructure, launch and insurance, is expected to reach approximately AED 3.9 billion (US$1.1 billion). The programme will initially be funded using Yahsat’s own resources ahead of the receipt of AED 3.7 billion (US$1.0 billion) in the form of an advance payment from the UAE Government.