UAE Launches Altair-1, First Commercial Satellite Built in the Country

Altair-1, the first commercial satellite built in the UAE, has launched into orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, according to Gulf News. The satellite was integrated by Loft Orbital, deployed successfully, acquired a signal, and is currently nominal in commissioning.

Altair-1 represents the initial deployment of the Altair constellation, a planned 10-satellite network designed to form the UAE's first commercial, AI-enabled Earth observation system. The spacecraft was designed, assembled, integrated, and tested in Abu Dhabi before being transported to California in August, with the remaining nine satellites scheduled for launch through 2027.

The satellite was built at Orbitworks' 50,000-square-foot facility in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), which was inaugurated in November 2025 as the Middle East's first facility dedicated to commercial satellite manufacturing. The site includes a 15,000-square-foot ISO-class cleanroom, electromagnetic interference chambers, thermal vacuum systems, and shaker tables, with an annual capacity of up to 50 satellites. Orbitworks is a joint venture between Loft Orbital and IHC subsidiary Marlan Space.

Each satellite in the constellation carries five integrated sensors covering optical, shortwave infrared, thermal, hyperspectral, and radio frequency bands. Onboard NVIDIA GPUs process the collected data into analysis-ready intelligence within minutes.

Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency, stated that the launch reflects the expanding capacity of the country's national space ecosystem under the National Space Strategy 2031, Operation 300bn, and Make it in the Emirates. Gulf News noted that on September 9, Marlan Space and Loft Orbital also announced a US$1 billion consortium with Mistral, BlackSky, and MaiaSpace to develop a 50-satellite AI infrastructure.