Sabbagh leaves E-Space to lead upcoming UAE satellite communications and geospatial champion

Tampa, Florida. Karim Michel Sabbagh has left megaconstellation startup E-Space to lead Space42, a consortium formed by regional satellite operator Yahsat and geospatial intelligence provider Bayanat The proposed portfolio is valued at approximately US$4 billion.

Sabagh 是SES 的前首席執行官，去年加入總部位於佛羅裡達州的E-Space，負責歐洲和中東的策略，如果這兩家阿聯酋公司的全股合併獲得監管和股東批准，他將擔任Space42 的董事總manager.

Yahsat is a subsidiary of Mubadala, the United Arab Emirates state-owned investment company that spun Bayanat out of the UAE Armed Forces more than a decade ago and turned it into a commercial company.

Bayanat is now majority-owned by UAE-based artificial intelligence and cloud provider G42, in which Mubadala holds a partial stake.

Under the plan announced on December 19, if the deal is completed as planned in the second half of 2024, Bayanat and Yahsat shareholders will hold 54% and 46% of Space42 shares respectively.

Mansoor Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Ministry of Health in Abu Dhabi and former Chairman of Bayanat, will serve as Chairman of Space42. Bakheet Al Katheeri, CEO of the Mubadalas UAE Investments platform, will serve as deputy chairman of the combined group.

Merger will unite two leading local companies to create MENA region [Middle East and Africa] Al Mansoori said in a press release that the company is the first space technology company in the region to be powered by artificial intelligence, but the release did not elaborate on the role that artificial intelligence could play in the combined company.

In May this year, Yahsat and Bayanat jointly ordered five UAE-focused synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites from Finnish earth observation operator Iceye. The first target launch will take place in the first quarter of 2024.

Bayanat said it plans to use the Yahsats satellite infrastructure backbone to conduct geospatial analysis of SAR data and develop artificial intelligence algorithms.

Yahsat currently provides broadband, video broadcast, backhaul and mobile voice and data services in the region through a fleet of five geostationary satellites, with three more connectivity-focused spacecraft in the pipeline.

space artificial intelligence

E-Space said it will also use advances in artificial intelligence technology to improve connectivity services, although it has not been clear about its proposed constellation of hundreds of thousands of satellites since it emerged from stealth mode in February 2022 and raised $50 million in seed funding. The details are sparse.

The joint venture announced the partnership in March to develop artificial intelligence technology to manage data traffic for its planned space-based networks and Etisalat’s terrestrial infrastructure.

After deploying three prototypes in low-Earth orbit in 2022, E-Space had hoped to begin mass production this year of what it calls a smart network of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices, but has yet to provide an update on those plans.

E-Space CEO Greg Wyler founded medium-Earth orbit broadband operator O3b Networks, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES during Sabbagh’s tenure as CEO.

Sabbagh confirmed in a LinkedIn message that he has left E-Space to focus on creating Space42.

Bayanat and Yahsat, which are listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, plan to hold a shareholder meeting in the first three months of 2024 to approve the merger.

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