Airbus-built OneSat selected for the first Omani satellite

Omansat-1 is the 10th satellite ordered for Airbus’ OneSat spacecraft product line

Space Communication Technologies (SCT), Oman’s national satellite operator, has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to deliver OmanSat-1, a fully reconfigurable high-throughput OneSat telecommunications satellite and associated systems. SCT leads Oman’s National Satellite Programme, which aims to build satellite communications infrastructure to serve both public and private sectors.

The OmanSat-1 satellite will provide high Ka-band capacity primarily over Oman, including its economic waters, and extend coverage across the Middle East, East Africa and Asia. Its fully digital, in-orbit reconfigurable design will enable SCT to meet customer requirements for high-throughput services in government and private networks, oil and gas, banking, broadband, maritime and aero connectivity. SCT intends to become a major player in these markets.

Airbus will supply an end-to-end integrated solution, including satellite design and manufacture, advanced ground segment software, and launch services. OmanSat-1 is the 10th satellite ordered under Airbus’s OneSat product line.

H.E Eng. Said Bin Hamoud Almaawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Sultanate of Oman, said: “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.”

Critical national role
Eng. Salim Al Alawi, CEO of SCT, said: “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 provide access new markets due to the flexibility in beam forming.”

Alain Fauré, head of space systems at Airbus, added: “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.”

Airbus OneSat satellites can be fully reconfigured while in orbit, adjusting coverage, capacity and frequency dynamically to meet changing mission scenarios. The design builds on Airbus’s Eurostar geostationary satellite heritage and its 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’s Space Agency (AEE).