Airbus : has been selected by Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE’s leading global satellite ...

Yahsat signs contract with Airbus to build Thuraya's next generation system

Yahsat boosts Thuraya's next generation capabilities with a commitment of over US$500 million

Future system will expand coverage, boost speeds, and transform products and solutions

Investment will reinforce Yahsat's and Thuraya's leadership in the industry for commercial and government solutions across the EMEA and APAC regions

@AirbusSpace #SpaceMatters @yahsatofficial #satellite

Abu Dhabi / Toulouse, Aug 27, 2020 - Airbus has been selected by Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE's leading global satellite operator, to build Thuraya 4-NGS, the next generation mobile telecommunications system that will drive the continued advancement of Thuraya's L-band business. Thuraya 4-NGS will deliver higher capabilities and flexibility while increasing capacity and coverage across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, enabling next generation mobility solutions for all customer segments, including defense, government and enterprise.

This is a major milestone in Yahsat's commitment towards transforming Thuraya and rolling out its next-generation system, which entails a complete overhaul of its space and ground platforms, enabling a new set of services, products and solutions, across a greater coverage area. The new capabilities will drive leadership across many strategic product lines, such as maritime, IoT, and data solutions offering a wide spectrum of throughput capabilities and the highest speeds available in the market, while reinforcing Thuraya's leading position in the MSS voice market.

Thuraya's next generation system will provide a world of opportunities to customers, service partners, hardware manufacturers and integrators, enhancing user experience across land, sea and air to support multiple customer segments, including government, consumer and enterprise.

Furthermore, an advanced portfolio of solutions to support government and defense users will accelerate Thuraya's leadership in this market, both within the UAE, regionally and globally. Meanwhile, all existing products and services will continue to be supported by Thuraya's space and ground segments, enabling service continuity during and after the transformation programme.

This latest commitment from Yahsat takes its total committed investment to date to well over US$500 million, and more is anticipated in the coming years, including an option with Airbus to build Thuraya 5-NGS (an additional satellite identical to Thuraya 4-NGS), strengthening its coverage and capabilities across the Asia Pacific region.

Khaled Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Yahsat's Board of Directors and CEO of Mubadala's Aerospace, Renewables & ICT platform stated, "This commitment by Mubadala and the Government of Abu Dhabi underscores Yahsat's position as a market leader, pioneer and disruptor. Moreover, it is another key step in reinforcing the UAE as a front-runner in the global space and satellite industry, laying the foundations for sustainable growth and development in the sector for years to come."

Ali Al Hashemi, CEO of Thuraya and General Manager of Yahsat Government Solutions (YGS) continued, "Thuraya 4-NGS represents a significant evolution of our L-band capabilities, enabling a wider range of interoperable FSS/MSS solutions for Thuraya and YGS customers. This will be critical in delivering superior defense solutions, such as battlefield communications, to our government users, while offering a complete MSS portfolio to all of our current and future customers and partners to drive the next phase of innovation and growth."

Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Airbus Space Systems said, "Building on a relationship with Yahsat that dates back more than 10 years, our selection is testament to the innovation and engineering excellence of Airbus' geostationary satellites. Thuraya 4-NGS, as well as being electric, will also benefit from our latest processed payload technology giving increased flexibility and adaptability over the course of its life in orbit. Yahsat's new project reinforces Airbus Defence and Space's position as the world's number one in electric propulsion satellites."

Based on the state-of-the-artall-electric Airbus Eurostar Neo Platform, Thuraya 4-NGS will incorporate a large 12-metreL-band antenna and a payload with on-board processing providing advanced routing flexibility of up to 3200 channels with dynamic power allocation over a large number of spot beams. It is scheduled for operation in 2024.

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About Yahsat

Yahsat is a leading fixed and mobile satellite communications solutions to over 190 countries America, Asia and Australasia.

services operator offering integrated satellite across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South

Yahsat's fleet of five satellites reaches more than two-thirds of the world's population, enabling critical communications including broadband, broadcasting, backhauling and mobility solutions. Yahsat provides a wide range of C, Ku, Ka, and L-band solutions for land, maritime and aero platforms to consumers, governments and enterprises.

Its businesses consist of Yahsat Government Solutions, YahClick (Powered by Hughes), YahLink, Yahlive and Thuraya.

Yahsat is based in Abu Dhabi, UAE and is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company.

For more information, visit:  www.yahsat.com

About Thuraya

Thuraya is the mobile satellite services subsidiary of Yahsat. Established in 1997, Thuraya offers innovative communications solutions to a variety of sectors including maritime, energy, government, broadcast media, military, aerospace and humanitarian NGO. Thuraya's superior network enables clear communications and uninterrupted coverage across two-thirds of the globe by MSS, global VSAT coverage and around the world through its unique GSM roaming capabilities.

For more information, visit: www.thuraya.com
Media contact for Yahsat & Thuraya
Ahmed Al Shamsi	[e-mail]	[phone]

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2019 it generated revenues of € 70 billion and employed a workforce of around 135,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world's leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

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