SPACE42: how Bayanat and Yahsat combined satellites, geospatial data and AI
SPACE42 is a young company built from much older capabilities. The name only appeared in 2024, but the business combines two established Abu Dhabi technology stories: Yahsat’s satellite communications infrastructure and Bayanat’s geospatial data and artificial-intelligence work.
The merger created a company designed around a simple idea. Satellites are more valuable when the communications and imagery they produce can be combined with software, analytics and artificial intelligence. SPACE42 was formed to put those layers inside one organisation rather than treating them as separate businesses.
By 2026, the result was a listed UAE space-technology group spanning secure satellite communications, Earth observation, geospatial analytics and AI-powered decision systems. Its story is therefore less about a conventional start-up than about two technology platforms being combined at the moment space infrastructure and artificial intelligence were becoming increasingly interconnected.
Yahsat built the satellite side of the business
Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, better known as Yahsat, was established in Abu Dhabi in 2007. The UAE Government became its anchor customer the following year, giving the company a clear role in secure and reliable satellite connectivity.
Yahsat launched its first two satellites, Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2, in 2011 and 2012. Those spacecraft supported government communications and broadband services across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The network expanded again with Al Yah 3 in 2018. That same year, Yahsat acquired a majority stake in Thuraya, adding a mobile satellite-services business with its own long operating history and coverage footprint.
Thuraya was strategically important because it gave Yahsat a different kind of satellite relationship with customers. Fixed satellite capacity supports large installations and government networks, while mobile satellite services can reach ships, field teams, vehicles and handheld devices.
Yahsat listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in July 2021. By then, it had grown into a multi-orbit satellite operator serving government and commercial customers across a wide geographic footprint.
Bayanat brought geospatial data and AI
Bayanat came from a different part of the technology stack. The company developed mapping, surveying and geospatial services, then expanded into AI-assisted analysis and smart-mobility applications.
G42 acquired Bayanat in 2020, giving the business access to a broader artificial-intelligence ecosystem. The company subsequently widened its focus from traditional geospatial services into areas such as autonomous mobility, Earth observation and AI-powered decision support.
Bayanat completed an initial public offering in October 2022. Its listing provided capital and a public-market structure just as the company was pushing deeper into smart mobility and space-based data.
The connection with Yahsat became more concrete in 2023, when the two companies worked with ICEYE on a synthetic-aperture radar Earth-observation programme. That collaboration offered a preview of the logic that would later drive their merger: Yahsat understood satellites and communications, while Bayanat specialised in turning geospatial data into useful information.
The merger was proposed in December 2023
The boards of Bayanat and Yahsat recommended a merger in December 2023. The proposed structure would combine the two Abu Dhabi-listed companies through a share swap, with Bayanat as the surviving legal entity.
Shareholders approved the transaction in April 2024. When the merger became effective on 1 October, Yahsat was dissolved as a separate listed company and its assets and liabilities moved into Bayanat. Bayanat was then renamed SPACE42 PLC.
SPACE42 began trading on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange under the ticker SPACE42 on the same day.
The ownership structure also reflected the strategic importance of the merger. G42, Mubadala and International Holding Company became major shareholders in the combined group, linking the new company to several of Abu Dhabi’s largest technology and investment institutions.
The merger created two operating engines
SPACE42 organised the combined business around two main units.
Space Services carries the Yahsat heritage. It provides satellite communications for government, defence, mobility and data-connectivity customers. Its assets include geostationary satellites, Thuraya mobile satellite services and future communications programmes.
Smart Solutions carries much of the Bayanat heritage. It combines Earth-observation data, mapping, geospatial analytics and artificial intelligence through software platforms designed to support planning and operational decisions.
The strategic argument is strongest when the two units work together. Satellite systems can collect imagery or provide connectivity, while AI and geospatial software can process the resulting data and turn it into information a government or commercial customer can act on.
Thuraya-4 became the first major satellite milestone of the new company
One of SPACE42’s first major operational milestones arrived only three months after the merger. Thuraya-4 launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in January 2025.
The satellite had originally been ordered by Yahsat in 2020, years before SPACE42 existed. Its launch therefore shows how the new company inherited long-running infrastructure programmes rather than starting from a blank sheet.
Thuraya-4 uses an Airbus Eurostar Neo platform and a large L-band antenna designed for mobile satellite services. The satellite expands coverage across Africa, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East while supporting higher data rates and more flexible beam management than the previous generation.
Commercial service began during the second half of 2025. SPACE42 used the satellite to support a portfolio of 16 new products and to extend Thuraya services into additional markets, including South Africa.
That South African rollout is particularly relevant for local readers. Thuraya announced its first operational entry into the country in November 2025, expanding satellite connectivity for sectors that operate beyond reliable terrestrial coverage.
Earth observation became the second major growth pillar
SPACE42 has also been building an Earth-observation capability around synthetic-aperture radar satellites. Radar imaging can collect useful data through clouds and at night, making it valuable for infrastructure monitoring, security, maritime awareness and environmental applications.
The Foresight constellation grew through multiple launches during 2025. SPACE42 has also worked to establish satellite assembly, integration and testing capability in the UAE, reducing dependence on importing every part of the space-production process.
This is where Bayanat’s heritage becomes important. Collecting imagery is only the first step. The commercial value depends on processing, combining and interpreting that information quickly enough to support decisions.
SPACE42’s GIQ platform is designed to bring together data from space and ground assets and apply AI-driven analysis. That approach turns Earth observation from a collection of satellite images into a broader intelligence service.
Direct-to-device connectivity is the longer-term communications bet
Traditional satellite communications usually require specialised terminals. The next major industry opportunity is direct-to-device connectivity, where ordinary smartphones and connected devices can communicate with satellites when terrestrial networks are unavailable.
SPACE42 has been developing this direction through a partnership with Viasat. The companies are working on a 5G non-terrestrial-network architecture intended to connect unmodified smartphones and internet-of-things devices through satellite systems.
Thuraya-4 acts as a bridge toward that future rather than the final system. Products such as the Thuraya One smartphone combine terrestrial and satellite capabilities today, while the broader direct-to-device architecture is intended to make satellite connectivity less dependent on specialised hardware over time.
The commercial potential is large, but the technology still depends on spectrum, standards, mobile-operator partnerships and additional infrastructure. Direct-to-device should therefore be treated as a developing business rather than revenue that is already guaranteed.
Government contracts give SPACE42 a long revenue base
Government business remains one of the strongest financial foundations of SPACE42.
The group has a 15-year capacity-services contract linked to Thuraya-4 worth roughly US$700 million. It also has a much larger 17-year agreement with the UAE Government covering satellite capacity and managed services.
That larger contract is worth US$5.1 billion and is tied to the Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellite programme. Those satellites are planned for launch in 2027 and 2028 and are intended to strengthen secure government communications.
Long contracts give SPACE42 unusual visibility compared with many younger space companies. They also create execution obligations. Satellites have to be built, launched and operated successfully before the full economic value of those agreements can be realised.
2025 was still a transition year
The first full year after the merger was shaped by integration and investment. SPACE42 continued operating mature satellite businesses while spending on Thuraya-4, Earth observation, new products and future non-terrestrial networks.
The company reported that revenue returned to quarterly growth in the final quarter of 2025 after a year affected by project timing and the transition to the new operating structure.
That set up a stronger start to 2026, when several programmes that had been under development began contributing more visibly.
H1 2026 showed the combined model gaining momentum
SPACE42 reported revenue of US$260 million for the first half of 2026, up 15% from a year earlier. Space Services produced its strongest performance to that point, helped by government business and the Thuraya-4 capacity-services agreement.
The Smart Solutions unit also benefited from renewed project activity. That matters because the long-term logic of the merger depends on both sides contributing rather than leaving SPACE42 as a satellite operator with a smaller analytics division attached.
The 2026 figures do not remove the capital intensity of the business. Satellites, launch services, ground infrastructure and Earth-observation constellations require substantial investment before they begin producing revenue.
What the results do show is that the combined company has moved beyond the legal mechanics of the 2024 merger and into the harder phase of proving that its assets can grow together.
SPACE42 is really a merger of infrastructure and intelligence
The most useful way to understand SPACE42 is not as a start-up founded in 2024. It is a combination of a satellite operator with roots in 2007 and a geospatial-AI business that became increasingly tied to G42 and public markets before the merger.
Yahsat contributed satellites, government contracts, mobility services and the Thuraya network. Bayanat contributed geospatial analytics, artificial intelligence and smart-mobility expertise. SPACE42 is trying to make those capabilities more valuable by joining them.
The early evidence is visible in two directions. Thuraya-4 shows the communications side expanding into new markets and products, while the Foresight constellation and GIQ platform show the intelligence side moving deeper into space-derived data.
The next test will be whether those projects become a repeatable global business rather than remaining heavily anchored to UAE government demand. SPACE42 already has scale, infrastructure and long-term contracts. Its challenge now is to prove that the combination of satellites, geospatial data and AI can create a company that is more valuable than the two businesses were separately.
