Space Systems and Technology Programme

Yahsat is committed to using connectivity as a tool to help drive social change, increase education opportunities and develop communities. We are proud that our partnership with Khalifa University, UAE Space Agency and Northrop Grumman has created the first multidisciplinary academic space programme in the UAE.

Yahsat Space Laboratory Achievements

• First space systems lab in UAE with Assembly-Integration-Verification (AIV) facilities to build CubeSats of size up to 6U and mass up to 10 kg.
• A VHF/UHF/S-Band Ground station capable of autonomous operations.
• Has supported numerous nanosatellite projects:
  • MySat-1 and DhabiSat, previously named MySat-2 (Yahsat-funded)
  • MeznSat and UAE MiniSat Competition (UAESA funded)
• Active participation in Young Future Energy Leaders, Ektashif outreach Programs and space events

Yahsat-funded CubeSat Projects

MySat-1: Launched to orbit in 2019, MySat-1 was a 1U CubeSat educational mission with the following objectives:

• Communication in the CubeSat in space and establish a telemetry download
• Take photos of the UAE land area using a camera as payload and sending the photos back to the ground station
• Test in space a new lithium-ion battery developed and manufactured at Khalifa University laboratories

DhabiSat: Launched to the International Space Station in February 2021 and deployed to into its orbital slot from Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply spacecraft in July, DhabiSat is a 2U CubeSat educational mission with the following objectives:

• Test custom software modules, developed at Khalifa University, for the Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS). The new ADCS algorithms shall improve the pointing accuracy of the CubeSat and its response time to attitude changes as compared to conventional algorithms
• Take photos using a high resolution camera as payload - at 12.6 metres per pixel spatial resolution on ground, from an altitude of 450 km