The two biggest booths on the Satellite MENA 2009 show floor belonged to SmartSat and YahSat, two satellite operators without any hardware in orbit.

Normally that strikes me as a warning sign: The company with the flashiest booth is trying to draw attention away from the fact that they don’t actually have anything to offer except videos and graphs and papers explaining all the great services they are going to provide the public. With the history of the satellite sector littered with grand plans that never came to pass, it’s easy to look at a new operator with a jaundiced eye, because the business is harder and more expensive than it looks.

But after spending time with SmartSat and YahSat, it’s easier to fell confident about their prospects. Neither company is trying to come in and claim it will revolutionize the satellite communications sector. They are simply making a business decision and looking to address a market that is thirsting for capacity. They also appear to have the necessary funding backing their plans, something it becoming harder and harder to find.

These two new operators are still several months away from playing any role in the Middle East, but if they can meet their announced schedules for orbiting satellites and launching service, they are sure to capture a chunk of the Middle East communications market.