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UAE's first commercial satellite Altair-1 reaches orbit in Dubai space milestone
Altair-1, the first commercial satellite designed, built and tested in the UAE, launched aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 and is now in orbit — the first of a planned 10-satellite AI Earth-observation constellation.
Why it matters
Altair-1 is the first commercial satellite designed, built and tested in the UAE — a milestone for the country's push to become one of the world's ten leading space economies by 2031. Its AI-powered, on-board data processing marks a shift toward satellites that analyze what they see in orbit instead of waiting for ground stations.
The 10-satellite constellation is aimed at commercial markets far beyond the Gulf: disaster response, maritime surveillance, food security and environmental monitoring, with a revisit time of roughly four hours once complete in 2027.
Full report
DUBAI — Altair-1, the first commercial satellite built in the United Arab Emirates, reached orbit on October 2 after launching aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Operators confirmed the satellite deployed successfully, acquired a signal and has entered commissioning.
The satellite was designed, assembled, integrated and tested in Abu Dhabi by Orbitworks, a joint venture between UAE-based Marlan Space — a subsidiary of IHC — and Loft Orbital. It is the first of a planned 10-satellite AI-enabled Earth-observation constellation, with the remaining nine to follow through 2027.
Each Altair satellite carries five integrated sensors — optical, shortwave infrared, thermal, hyperspectral and radio frequency — and onboard NVIDIA GPUs that process data in orbit within minutes. Planned uses include disaster response, maritime awareness, environmental monitoring, food security, infrastructure surveillance and national security.
Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency, called the launch a reflection of the country's growing capacity to develop and manufacture advanced space technologies, and part of its drive to rank among the world's top ten space economies by 2031.
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