SES Astra and Yahsat to start satellite company
April 22, 2009
SES Astra has made a partnership with the Arabic satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat). They will create a new company operating under the YahLive brand that will offer Direct-to-Home (DTH) television capacity and services to more than two dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South West Asia.
YahLive will offer DTH satellite services to free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasters in the region. It will own and commercialise 23 BSS-transponders on the Yahsat 1A spacecraft to be positioned at the 52.5 degrees East orbital position and operating in the Ku-band frequency. The satellite, procured from a consortium of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, is currently under construction and is scheduled to be launched by the fourth quarter of 2010.
Yahsat is a private joint stock company based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and owned by Mubadala, the investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi.
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