In latest years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has racked up spectacular off-planet achievements, from sending an astronaut to area to reaching Mars orbit with its Hope Probe.
Now, with international locations world wide specializing in constructing sovereign satellite networks, amid geopolitical tensions, a UAE firm is working to mass manufacture business satellites.
Abu Dhabi-based Orbitworks is growing AI-enabled satellites that may type a 10-satellite Earth commentary constellation referred to as Altair, helpful for all the pieces from navy intelligence gathering to environmental monitoring. A three way partnership between Abu Dhabi’s Marlan Space and San Francisco-based Loft Orbital, Orbitworks plans to launch the primary satellite in October.
Today, US-based SpaceX accounts for about 69% of all lively satellites, in keeping with the monitoring web site Orbital Radar. But Canada has plans to launch a whole bunch of latest satellites to safeguard its nationwide sovereignty, decreasing reliance on Washington, and the European Union is growing its personal community of 290 satellites.
Orbitworks describes itself as serving to to “build sovereign space capability in the UAE.”
“There has been a lot more focus on nations to have their own assets in space,” Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, the CEO of Orbitworks and Marlan Space, advised NCS’s Paula Hancocks.
However, “not everybody can afford to have their own assets,” Mohib stated, and Altair shall be provided below a “constellation-as-a-service” mannequin, permitting companies, governments and researchers to lease its capabilities.
Traditional satellites ship massive quantities of uncooked knowledge to Earth for processing, which may take hours — or longer. Orbitworks’ satellites will use AI to course of knowledge in area, sending insights to customers “almost instantaneously,” stated Mohib.
It’ll be essential to compete globally as different satellite firms combine AI-functionality. “Everybody that’s anybody that does satellites is looking to put AI on board,” stated Quentin A. Parker, an emeritus professor in astrophysics and area science on the University of Hong Kong.
Mohib stated he hopes the involvement of the American firm Loft Orbital will assist appeal to extra Western prospects. “There was a lot of temptation to partner with a Chinese firm,” he stated, citing aggressive pricing and a willingness to share mental property.
Mohib added that conversations are underway with prospects who may wish to faucet into Orbitworks’ manufacturing capabilities. Its 50,000-square-foot manufacturing unit has the capability to make 50 satellites, weighing as much as 500 kilograms (1,100 kilos), a yr.
The worth of the worldwide area market — the place the area trade operates instantly — was $224 billion in 2024, in keeping with a 2025 report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), principally from satellite communication and Earth commentary. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) area market was estimated to be $18 billion, with the UAE contributing round 40 to 45%.
The nation plans to double area financial system revenues and to be among the many world’s high 10 area economies by 2031, as it really works to diversify its financial system for the post-oil future.
Globally, personal sector area firms have slashed prices and sped up innovation. SpaceX, for instance, drastically lowered launch prices with its pioneering reusable rocket expertise.
In latest a long time, the UAE has established space-focused establishments, laid out rules to manipulate business area actions and made hefty investments. The 3 billion UAE dirham ($820 million) National Space Fund was established to help worldwide and Emirati firm cooperation to construct nationwide know-how.
That funding has helped drive the expansion of a personal sector within the UAE that features a new crop of firms like Orbitworks — which describes itself as “the Middle East’s first private space infrastructure company.”
The UAE nonetheless has main mission plans, like a 5-billion-kilometer (3.1-billion-mile) journey to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, slated to launch in 2028. But within the final yr or two, the nation has more and more targeted on creating sovereign area safety infrastructure, and expertise to seize financial alternatives, Faisal Hamady, a Dubai-based managing director and associate at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advised NCS by way of e mail.
“For much of its early history, the UAE bought satellites and expertise abroad, but the national strategy now explicitly aims to build a market-driven ecosystem rather than a purely government-led one,” stated Hamady.
“Falling launch costs and the rise of AI applications are also unlocking new commercial use cases, from monitoring oil and gas infrastructure to disaster response and climate tracking.”
The Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy will use intelligence from Ortbitworks’ satellites to handle ports, together with for real-time vessel visitors info. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, which gives assist in growing international locations, will use Altair to watch its initiatives remotely. The French Space Agency has additionally signed on, in keeping with Orbitworks.
“That’s a big endorsement for us,” stated Mohib, who added that marks a shift for the UAE from a purchaser of area companies from France to a supplier.
Orbitworks is exploring attainable funding for a billion-dollar enlargement plan that will assist it get one other 40 satellites into orbit.