Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC (“Yahsat” or the “Group”) has announced that the company’s government services arm, Yahsat Government Solutions (“YGS”), recently received an Authorization to Proceed (“ATP”) to provide satellite capacity and managed services for 17 years from the UAE Government (the “Government”).
This mandate, valued at $5.1, combines related operations, maintenance and technology management services of ground segment satellite systems and terminals currently provided under a separate contract.
The mandate will replace two current agreements — the Capacity Services Agreement (CSA) and the Managed Services Mandate (MSM) — which come to an end in November and December of 2026, respectively. Under the new mandate, Yahsat will provide the Government with secure and reliable satellite capacity and related managed services using the Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 satellites, currently on-orbit, and supplement this with two new satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5) that are expected to be launched in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
The mandate reinforces Yahsat’s long-standing and unique relationship with the Government, dating back almost two decades since the company’s inception, highlighting its critical role as the preferred and trusted partner to the Government for the supply of secure satellite capacity and solutions. This also significantly increases the Group’s contracted future revenues to $7.0 billion, over 16 times Yahsat’s 2022 annual revenues, extending backlog well beyond 2040 and providing security and visibility over the firm’s future cash flows.
Yahsat signed an Authorization-to-Proceed with Airbus (“Airbus ATP”) in June of 2023 for the construction of AY4 and AY5. This preserves the program schedule and enables certain activities to commence, such as system requirements review, design work and procurement activities for long-lead items. The AY4 and AY5 procurement, including spacecraft, ground segment infrastructure, launch and insurance, will be funded by Yahsat’s own resources as well as other potential funding options that are currently under review. In addition, the award includes an advance payment from the Government of $1 billion to be received in 2024.
“We are honored to secure the continued trust of the UAE Government to provide critical, secure communication services for a further 17 years beyond 2026. This award is a testament to our long-standing relationship with the Government and the quality of service that we provide as we continue to strive to consistently exceed customer expectations. By complementing our existing fleet with Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 next generation satellites, we will be able to serve the government with new cutting-edge solutions that are not currently possible. The performance of the new satellites is expected to significantly surpass current industry capabilities including capacity, coverage and flexibility allowing us to offer a wide range of next generation applications to our end user. We are excited by this new journey and look forward to serving our customer with true operational excellence.” — Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Chairman, Yahsat
“We are delighted to receive this mandate, which allows us to continue to provide capacity and related services to the UAE Government beyond 2026 using our current satellite fleet, and beyond 2040 on two new satellites, which are already under construction. This is a new chapter in Yahsat’s momentous journey serving the satellite communications requirements for the UAE Government. The AED 18.7 billion [$5.1 billion] mandate positions Yahsat for sustainable future growth, alongside other ambitious projects in the pipeline. Our financial position has never been stronger and we now enjoy a contracted revenue backlog of AED 25.7 billion [$7.0 billion] or over 16 times annual revenues based on backlog figures at the end of the second quarter. Representing one of the largest backlog multiples and strongest balance sheets in the industry, we remain optimistic about providing a broader, more diverse and cutting-edge solutions portfolio to both the government and our customers.” — Ali Al Hashemi, Group Chief Executive Officer, Yahsat
