Arabsat and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology sign contracts

The first Satellite is joint  between Hillasat (totally owned by  Arabsat )  and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) on the orbital position 39° East .Manufactured by Lockheed  Martin  USA, this satellite (SGS1)  will  meet the  Needs of (KACST) to serve telecommunications sector and broadband in and outside the kingdom.  Arabsat will sign the launching  contract for this satellite with the French company Arianespace.

The second Satellite is Arabsat 6-A on Arabsat orbital position  30.5°  East  that will support Arabsat competitive position and sustain it as the first satellite operator in the Arab and African market and neighborhood for satellite capacities and state -of- art  satellite services.  

Prince/ Turkey Bin Saud Bin Mohammed president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology(KACST) said: "The City has worked hard to get the best and the latest technology in the field of satellites and to take advantage of all the capabilities in KSA that  were  provided  by the   Custodian of the Two Holy  Mosques government for possessing highly developed and secured telecommunications satellites systems to serve the governmental and the commercial sectors. This comes as a continuation of the city aim to  localize the satellite technology and its applications in the Kingdom , that why we have a Strategic partnership  with  Arabsat  to enhance  this  integral concept   with  the leading satellite telecommunication operator in the Kingdom and in the region , as well as our partnership with  Lockheed  Martin   , one of the pioneer  leading companies in the field of satellite manufacture, and the Saudi company for Developing and Technical Investment “Taqnia”  owned by the Public Investment Fund for the purpose of increasing the share of the  local manufacture of satellites in the Kingdom."  

Khalid Balkhyour President&CEO of Arabsat said: " The signing of the new satellites contracts is significantly important to Arabsat,  as it presents a successful development in our partnership with King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology  Which started  by the launching of satellite  5-C in 2011 and paid off today by manufacturing joint commercial integrated satellite  with KACST, the "Saudi GeoSat-1", in our  orbital position  39° E, that will meet the needs of  KACST to Saudi Arabia.” 

Balkheyour added: "I would like to point out what  we have witnessed  from  (KACST) team  headed by his Highness  Prince/ Turkey Bin Saud Bin Mohammed , as they were highly  and technically professional according to the highest international standards throughout the initial negotiations with (KACST) for the satellite design and specifications  and also thought out  the global competition biding and the following difficult negotiations with the manufacturers and the launching companies, it is not only my testimony but also a living  testimony from  different  multinational companies  that worked  on this  project.”