Loft Orbital : A new joint venture is set to revolutionize satellite manufacturing in the Middle East, as a holding company linked to an Emirati royal family injects over $100 million into a collaboration between Abu Dhabi’s Marlan Space and the startup Loft Orbital. Named Orbitworks, this venture will be the first commercial enterprise in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to mass-produce satellites. Marlan Space holds the majority stake in this venture and is associated with the International Holding Company (IHC), which is predominantly owned by the Royal Group, the conglomerate connected to Abu Dhabi’s ruling royal family.
The UAE’s aspirations for space exploration are ambitious and well-funded. Despite being under a decade old, the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) has invested billions in developing domestic space capabilities and forming global partnerships. Notably, the UAE sent its first astronaut to the ISS in 2019 and, in 2021, became one of the few nations to place a probe into Martian orbit.
Beyond the UAESA, the UAE’s space sector includes key entities such as Space42, formed from a merger of Emirati satellite firm Yahsat and data analytics company Bayanat; EDGE Group, a major industrial entity; and several universities and research centers like the National Space and Science Technology Center. The UAE now aims to deploy satellite constellations and enhance its domestic satellite manufacturing.
Loft Orbital CEO Pierre-Damien Vaujour expressed his long-standing interest in the UAE’s space sector, stating, “Even when we started Loft, I had in mind at the very beginning that I wanted to open activities in the UAE and contribute to the ecosystem over there.”
Loft Orbital, based in San Francisco, specializes in purchasing satellite buses in bulk and managing payload integration. The company offers “virtual missions,” allowing customers to deploy applications that utilize onboard sensors and cameras. Vaujour highlighted that Loft’s adaptable hardware will facilitate collaboration with various players in the Middle East’s space industry. “Loft can work with any payload supplier, any bus or subsystem providers, any ground station provider, any cloud provider … We’re providing the JV the playbook for production, operations and technology for satellites,” he noted.
Orbitworks plans to produce up to fifty 500-kilogram satellites each year. The first ten satellite units are already in the procurement phase. Operating from a 50,000 square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi, the company expects to assemble, integrate, and test its first satellite platform by early 2025.
To comply with U.S. regulations, Loft Orbital has established agreements with Marlan Space, ensuring that Loft’s separate entity, Loft Federal, continues to fulfill classified contracts for U.S. national security clients.
“This entity that has been created has a mandate to become the national champion in the country for satellite constellation production and operation, and that’s something that is fairly new,” Vaujour said. “While we’re starting with something small in scope, the idea is really to scale this at a different scale. The ambitions, both from the country, the region, and internationally for something like this is pretty big.”
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