Altair-1, the first of ten AI-enabled Earth observation satellites built by Orbitworks in Abu Dhabi, has successfully deployed and entered its planned orbit.
ABU DHABI, UAE – October 1 2026 – Altair-1, the first commercial satellite built in the UAE and integrated by Loft Orbital, launched aboard the Transporter-18 rideshare mission with SpaceX at 11:32 a.m., PT / GST from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Altair-1 successfully deployed and acquired a signal, the satellite is nominal is now in commissioning
Altair-1 marks the launch of the Altair constellation: ten satellites forming the UAE’s first commercial, AI-enabled Earth observation network. It was designed, assembled, integrated and tested at Orbitworks’ facility in Abu Dhabi and flown to California in August. The other nine satellites will follow through 2027.
His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency, congratulated the Orbitworks team on this milestone, highlighting the private sector’s role in building advanced, scalable national space industries.
His Excellency said: “The launch of Altair-1 reflects the strength of the UAE’s national space ecosystem and its growing capacity to develop and manufacture advanced space technologies. Guided by the National Space Strategy 2031, we are bringing together research, industry and investment to enable national companies to innovate, grow and contribute to economic diversification.”
His Excellency added: “Altair-1 also demonstrates how capabilities developed in the UAE can deliver solutions with commercial value beyond our borders. By opening new markets and international partnerships for UAE companies, the launch will strengthen the country’s contribution to the global space sector and advance our ambition to become one of the world’s ten leading space economies by 2031.”
Each Altair satellite carries five integrated sensors: optical, shortwave infrared, thermal, hyperspectral and radio frequency. Onboard NVIDIA GPUs turn that data into analysis-ready intelligence within minutes, not the hours that ground-based processing typically takes. At full strength in 2027, the constellation is designed to revisit any point on Earth roughly every four hours. Operating in real time and autonomously, the satellites process data at the edge and act on what they detect, fast enough to catch a wildfire at its first heat signature or locate a vessel operating clandestinely. It will support disaster response, maritime awareness, environmental monitoring, food security, infrastructure surveillance, and national security applications.
Altair takes its name from the Arabic al-ṭā’ir (الطائر), “the flying one”, a star used for centuries to navigate by. It is also a reference to the Altair 8800, the 1975 computer for which Microsoft wrote its first BASIC interpreter.
“Two years ago, Orbitworks was an idea. Today, a satellite built in Abu Dhabi is in orbit,” said Dr Hamdullah Mohib, Chief Executive Officer of Orbitworks and Chief Executive Officer of Marlan Space. “The UAE is no longer only a buyer of space capability; it is a builder of it. Altair-1 is the first of ten, and the start of a future in which customers see, decide and act on their own terms, with intelligence created in orbit.”
Altair-1 was built at Orbitworks’ 50,000-square-foot facility in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), inaugurated in November 2025 as the first of its kind in the Middle East dedicated to commercial satellite production. The site includes a 15,000-square-foot ISO-class cleanroom, electromagnetic interference (EMI) chambers, thermal vacuum systems and shaker tables, with capacity to produce up to 50 satellites a year at full scale, roughly one a week.
Orbitworks is a joint venture between Marlan Space, a UAE-based space company and subsidiary of IHC, and Loft Orbital.
“We are proud to have been a small contributor to this landmark achievement in Abu Dhabi,” said Pierre-Damien Vaujour, CEO of Loft Orbital. “The UAE space ecosystem has been growing steadily on solid foundations for decades, and it is now ready for liftoff. The launch of the first satellite produced at Orbitworks’ KEZAD’s Abu Dhabi facility paves the way for 10 more over the next 12 months and 50 more over the next few years. This moment shows the world what the UAE has quietly built, and that it is ready to lead globally in AI powered satellite constellation production and operations”
Customers can own an Altair satellite and the data it produces, or access the same capability as a service, tasking and licensing Altair’s intelligence directly. Altair has a number of anchor customers and end users in Europe and the Middle East namely, the multiple entities of the French government, the Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. Orbitworks is in discussions with prospective customers across North America, Africa and Asia for access to the remaining capacity.
Altair-1 is the first step in a much larger programme. On 9 September, Marlan Space and Loft Orbital announced a USD $1 billion consortium with Mistral, BlackSky and MaiaSpace to build an AI satellite infrastructure whose initial phase comprises fifty satellites. Together, the programmes support the UAE’s ambition to rank among the world’s ten largest space economies by 2031, alongside national initiatives including Operation 300bn and Make it in the Emirates.
High-resolution imagery and further materials will be made available to media following confirmed commissioning. Senior Orbitworks officers are available for interview on request.
About Orbitworks
Orbitworks Satellites Manufacturing – L.L.C. – S.P.C. is a UAE-based satellite manufacturing and space services company focused on developing cost-effective, high-performance space systems. Established in 2024 and based in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD Group), Orbitworks is the Middle East’s first commercial satellite manufacturer, formed through a strategic partnership between Abu Dhabi-based Marlan Space and San Francisco-headquartered Loft Orbital. Orbitworks enables broader access to space through integrated satellite platforms, constellations, and Earth Observation services tailored to evolving mission needs.
About Marlan Space
Marlan Space is a UAE-based investor-operator focused on building and scaling companies and technologies across the space economy, and a subsidiary of IHC. Its portfolio spans space systems, autonomous operations and advanced compute, combining investment, technology partnerships and operational capabilities to develop globally competitive space businesses from Abu Dhabi.
About Loft Orbital
Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable way to deploy missions in orbit. Loft integrates, launches, and operates spacecraft on behalf of its customers, allowing them to focus on mission outcomes rather than building or operating their own satellites.
By leveraging Loft’s existing space infrastructure, modular technologies, and inventory of satellites on a shelf, customers can deploy new capabilities in months instead of years. Loft has flown more than 25 missions across a wide range of payloads and applications, demonstrating consistent, repeatable performance on-orbit. Loft is a global company with facilities in San Francisco, Golden, Colorado, and Toulouse, France. In 2024, Loft and Marlan Space established Orbitworks, the Middle East’s first private space-infrastructure company, extending Loft’s ability to support customers worldwide.
About IHC
Established in 1999, IHC has become the most valuable holding company in the Middle East and one of the world’s largest investment firms, with a market capitalization of AED 840 billion (USD 229 billion). Since then, it has transformed to represent a new generation of investors. IHC’s commitment to sustainability, innovation, and economic diversification spans over 1,300 subsidiaries, driving growth across 4 key sectors: Technology, Infrastructure, Financial Services and Consumer.
IHC continually looks beyond the stand-alone value of its assets for opportunities, stepping outside of traditional approaches and artificial barriers to unlock opportunities across its portfolio, enabling sector-agnostic Dynamic Value Networks and creating results that are often much greater than the sum of their parts.
At IHC, we take our responsibility to shareholders, customers, and employees seriously. Our commitment to responsible investment ensures that we create sustainable value by staying connected to the communities we serve, making a positive difference with every investment.
Media Contact
Katherine Raso
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
katherine.raso@orbitworks.ae