Al Yah 3: Countdown to launch of the UAE's latest satellite begins

The satellite, which will bring broadband and TV to Brazil and 20 African countries, will blast off from French Guiana in the early hours of Friday morning

Remplissage Al Yah 3 au S5A le 15/12/2017

Fueling of the new Al Yah 3 satellite, which launches early tomorrow morning.

James Langton

Jan 25, 2018

It’s only a matter of hours before the UAE’s latest satellite, Al Yah 3, is blasted into orbit.

Already on the launchpad at the Ariane Launch Complex in Kourou, French Guiana, lift-off is set for the early hours of Friday morning, UAE time.

Social media is buzzing about the launch with people using the hashtag #journeyofpride. Mubadala, the Government investment company, along with the UAE Space Agency and Dubai Media Office are following the progress on Twitter.

The highly-anticipated day is here! Today we launch the #AlYah3, the third in @yahsatofficial fleet from Kourou in French Guiana. Stay with us as we go LIVE with further updates on its deployment #JourneyOfPride #Yahsat https://t.co/0q1VEM66jW pic.twitter.com/CYRNrs7ERb
— وكالة الإمارات للفضاء (@uaespaceagency) January 25, 2018

The satellite has been built for Yahsat, the Abu Dhabi telecommunications company owned by Mubadala, and will extend its services, which include YahClick broadband and entertainment TV channels, to Brazil and 20 African countries.

With the launch of Al Yah 3 in 30 hours, @yahsatofficial’s commercial Ka-band coverage will be extended to an additional 20 markets, reaching 60% of Africa’s population and over 95% of Brazil’s population.#JourneyofPride #Yahsat @yahsatofficial https://t.co/NN55q4NbLk pic.twitter.com/hWY3TsqhsI
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) January 24, 2018

A team from Yahsat has signed off on Al Yah 3, which shares the payload with another communications satellite built by Airbus Space and Defence.

The launch vehicle is an Ariane 5 booster, and it will be the first flight of 2018. Once launched, Al Yah will be moved into geostationary orbit and is expected to begin operations by the early summer.

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