Arabsat, SpaceX sign 7A satellite launch contract
September 20, 2022
Arabsat has selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to launch its new satellite, Arabsat 7A – the first Arabsat 7th generation satellite harbouring the latest satellite technologies in terms of manufacturing, payload, efficiency of performance, and coverage flexibility.
This announcement marks the third time that Arabsat has selected SpaceX for launch: first in 2019 with Falcon Heavy’s launch of Arabsat and SpaceX will also launch Arabsat’s BADR-8 satellite on Falcon 9 next year. Al-Hamedi Al-Anezi, CEO of Arabsat, said: “We value our work with SpaceX. The signing of this agreement is an extension of the trusted relationship with SpaceX that has been built over the past few years since the launch of Arabsat 6A. Arabsat 7A will be one of Arabsat’s first software-defined payload satellites, offering high throughput Ku-band capacity to help Arabsat expand its services into several verticals to enhance its portfolio of products and solutions over the Middle East, Africa and beyond, to parts of Europe.”“We’re excited to be selected for our third Arabsat launch,” added SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero. “Having worked together on the Falcon Heavy launch of Arabsat 6A and the upcoming launch of BADR-8, our work with Arabsat is a testament to our Falcon fleet’s reliability and safety.”