Artist rendering of the Al Yah 3 satellite. Photo: Yahsat

Yahsat has announced that its third satellite Al Yah 3, located at 20 degrees West, has successfully completed its in-orbit testing and is ready for commercial services. The satellite will potentially expand Yahsat’s Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa, covering 60 percent of the population, and marks Yahsat’s first entry into Brazil, where 95 percent of the population is covered by the satellite’s footprint.

The successful mission is the culmination of a project which has seen Al Yah 3 designed and built with Emirati engineers leading at every stage of the process in partnership with Orbital ATK. Al Yah 3, an all Ka-band satellite, and the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3 satellite completed by Orbital ATK, was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket by Arianespace, on January 26.

“Access to the internet is a key facilitator of social and economic progress. Today, broadband connectivity is playing an important role in creating new opportunities and in accelerating innovation. We are excited by the opportunity Al Yah 3 brings in our ability to deliver reliable and affordable satellite broadband services to parts of the world that need it the most, building upon our previous achievements as pioneers of such services across Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia,” saidMasood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Yahsat.