Mary-Louise Hoffman
Orbital Sciences has won a contract of an undisclosed value to manufacture a lightweight broadband communications satellite for United Arab Emirates-based satcom operator Yahsat.
The Al Yah satellite will be built on the Orbital GEOStar-3 infrastructure and work to provide Ka-band coverage for Yahsat customers throughout Brazil and Africa, Orbital said Wednesday.
Yahsat plans to launch the satcom in the fourth quarter of 2016 aboard an Arianspace-made rocket.
“We are honored to partner with Yahsat to design, build, test and deliver the Al Yah 3 satellite,†said David Thompson, Orbital CEO and chairman.
“We look forward to working with the Yahsat team and welcome them into the family of GEOStar customers.â€Â Thompson added.
Orbital’s GEOStar satellite technology is designed to accommodate a variety of communications hardware for missions that require a payload power of up to 8 kilowatts.
