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[Satellite TODAY Insider 04-25-12] Yahsat’s ambitions in the Middle East have been boosted after its second satellite — Yahsat 1B — was successfully launched. International Launch Services (ILS) carried out the launch April 24. It was the third successful ILS Proton launch so far this year.
Yahsat 1B weighs more than 6,000 kg and features a spacecraft power of 14kW and has a 15-year design lifetime. It is equipped with a commercial multi-beam Ka-band payload, which will be used to provide a variety of government and commercial applications, including YahClick, a new affordable satellite broadband service for the Middle East, Africa and South West Asia. Astrium and Thales Alenia Space helped build the satellite.
The Yahsat 1B satellite is the second of two huge satellites Yahsat now has in orbit. Its Yahsat 1A satellite was successfully launched last year. With both satellites launched, the copmany’s new CEO, Tareq Al Hosani, will be responsible for providing a strong return on this investment. Al Hosani expects 2012 to be the year of Ka-band. “We believe that there is high growth potential for Ka-band satellite services in the region,” he said. “The business opportunities presented by Ka-band are extremely strong across both of these regions and beyond and we are also targeting a number of other regions including South West Asia. It is clear that unserved and under-served populations have a need and a desire for affordable, high-speed broadband. We believe that to be successful it is imperative to instill the right value proposition and that is why we will focus on having the right services for each market at the right price.”
All eyes will now turn to Yahsat’s plans for further satellites. It has been rumored that the next satellite, when ordered, could be targeting more Latin America than the Middle East. “We are already undertaking studies at the business case for a commissioning third satellite, which if we do decide to proceed will serve regions outside of the Middle East,” Al Hosani said. “You only have to look at the growth of the Brazilian economy to understand that Latin American is a region that has massive potential and needs to be carefully considered. We have already undertaken a number of studies and view this as a major growth opportunity, which we feel would synergize well with our next planned mission. We are also carefully considering further growth opportunities in the DTH space both television services for a number of regions beyond the Middle East.”
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