Airbus-built OneSat selected for first Omani satellite

Image copyright Airbus

SCT is the lead centre for Oman’s National Satellite Programme, building satellite communications infrastructure to create capabilities to serve both the public and private sectors.

The fully digital, in-orbit reconfigurable OmanSat-1 will deliver high Ka-band capacity primarily over Oman including its economic waters and the whole of the Middle East, East Africa and Asia. The fully reconfigurable design will allow SCT to meet customer needs for high-throughput services including Government and private networks, oil and gas, banking, broadband, maritime and aero connectivity. SCT aims to be one of the major players in those markets.

Airbus will deliver an end-to-end fully integrated solution, including design and manufacture of the satellite, highly capable ground segment software components as well as the launch service. This is the 10th satellite under contract for Airbus’ OneSat spacecraft product line.

“We value the partnership with Airbus Defence and Space, and emphasise the critical national role of Space Communication Technologies Company as the national operator and executive arm for this project. This partnership ensures the achievement of the highest levels of efficiency, facilitates knowledge transfer, and builds national capabilities in this vital sector,” announced HE Eng. Said Bin Hamoud Almaawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Sultanate of Oman.

“It is a privilege to sign such a contract, which will finally put the name of the Sultanate of Oman in Space, as one of the regional players for satellite operators. Our selection of OneSat manufactured by Airbus, will mean that SCT will operate the latest Software Defined Satellite with full flexibility and high throughput Ka-band, and offer competitive services to most of the verticals in the targeted markets, and ability to access new markets due to the flexibility in beam forming,” said Eng. Salim Al Alawi, CEO of SCT. 

“We are delighted to have signed this contract to provide Oman with world class fully flexible telecommunications capability through its first geostationary satellite. We will work hand in hand with Oman’s Space Communication Technologies to help them deliver their national satellite programme and develop their sovereign capabilities to serve their future customers,” said Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at Airbus.

Airbus OneSats can be fully reconfigured while in orbit, capable of adjusting their coverage, capacity and frequency ‘on the fly’ to meet evolving mission scenarios. It builds on the heritage of Airbus’ ultra-reliable Eurostar geostationary telecommunications satellites and the company’s constellation expertise with OneWeb. Development of the OneSat programme is supported by ESA, as well as the French Space Agency (CNES), the UK Space Agency, the German Space Agency (DLR) and Spain Space Agency (AEE).