Al Yah Satellite Communications Company announced that its government services arm, Yahsat Government Solutions has received from the UAE Government an Authorization to Proceed to provide satellite capacity and managed services for 17 years.
The mandate, valued at AED 18.7 billion (USD 5.1 billion), 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, which come to an end in November and December 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 in orbit, and supplement this by two new satellites, Al Yah 4 (“AY4”) and Al Yah 5 (“AY5”) which 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. It also significantly increases the Group’s contracted future revenues to AED 25.7 billion (USD 7.0 billion), over 16 times its 2022 annual revenues, extending backlog well beyond 2040 and providing security and visibility over its future cash flows.
Yahsat signed an Authorisation-to-Proceed with Airbus in June 2023 for the construction of AY4 and AY5. This preserves the programme 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 which are currently under review. In addition, the award includes an advance payment from the Government of USD 1 billion to be received in 2024.
Also published on Medium.
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