Loft Orbital forms a joint venture with a UAE-based firm to promote satellite production in the Middle East | TechCrunch

A company linked to the Emirati royal family is entering a new joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Marlan Space and Loft Orbital that is starting with more than $100 million to expand local satellite manufacturing capabilities.

The joint venture, called Orbitworks, will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-produce satellites. The majority of the assets are owned by Marlan Space, a new space company affiliated with the International Holding Company. IHC itself is controlled by the Royal Group, a conglomerate of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

The UAE has high regional ambitions – and deep pockets to support them. The UAE Space Agency (UAESA) is less than ten years old, but the government has spent billions to invest in local capabilities and establish ties with other countries and commercial players. The UAE sent its first astronaut (or privately sponsored “spaceflight participant” as NASA puts it) to the ISS in 2019; two years later, he became the latest member of a very small group of nations to explore the Martian path.

The Gulf state’s ecosystem has a few key players beyond UAESA: Space42, a partnership of Emirati satellite firm Yahsat and data analytics company Bayanat; EDGE Group, a major industry hub; and several universities and research institutes such as the National Center for Space and Science Technology. The country is in a position where it wants to install satellite constellations, and bring the ability to make satellites in-house.

Loft Orbital CEO Pierre-Damien Vaujour said in a recent interview that he has long been interested in the UAE space environment: “Even when we started Loft, I thought at the beginning that I wanted to open jobs in the UAE and contribute. to ecosystem is there.”

San Francisco-based Loft buys satellite buses in bulk and flies, using a modular payload adapter that connects the customer’s equipment to the spacecraft. Loft handles all of the launch integration and deploys the spacecraft once it reaches orbit. The startup can also create “virtual operations,” where customers can install applications in orbit that power onboard sensors, computing and cameras.

Vaujour said Loft’s flexible facilities will enable the JV to work with a variety of different players emerging in the Middle East region. “Loft can work with any toll provider, any bus or subway provider, any ground station provider, any cloud provider…

Orbitworks aims to build up to 500-kilogram satellites per year, and equipment for the first ten satellites has already been purchased. It will operate from a 50,000 square meter facility in Abu Dhabi, and the first satellite platform is expected to be assembled, assembled and tested there in early 2025.

Vaujour says the startup has established its own agreements with Marlan to ensure Loft stays in compliance with US regulations and foreign licensing. Loft’s separate entity, Loft Federal, will continue to provide work on specialized contracts for US national defense clients.

“This established center has the mandate to be the national champion in the country for the production and operation of satellite units, and it is something new,” Vaujour said. “While we are starting with something small, the idea is to measure this on a different scale. The desire, from the country, the region and internationally for something like this is huge.”