30 Years After The Launch Of The First Generation of its Satellites During The Journey Of The First Muslim Arab Astronaut, His Royal Highness Prince / Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz
Arabsat first Satellite of the 6th generation, “Badr-7” was launched successfully this morning from Kourou base in the island of French Guyana in South America by the Ariane – 5 Rocket.
The Ariane 5 rocket blasted off at 21:34 GMT on Wednesday 11th ( 12:34 Makkah time) , carrying Badr-7, a Eurostar satellite, manufactured by Airbus Defense & Space with Thales Alenia Space, to be placed in ARABSAT exclusive orbital hotspot 26° East.
This Step Comes as part of ARABSAT ambitious expansion projects, and it is the 6th satellite launched during the past seven years on three deferent orbital positions to provide diverse services of TV broadcasting and Telecommunications services. Badr -7 will join Arabsat satellites Badr – 4, Badr-5 and Badr -6 on its exclusive TV Broadcasting orbital position 26° East.
This successful launch also comes after thirty years since the launch of Arabsat first generation satellites, which was supervised by the first Arab Muslim astronaut, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, now President of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) during his famous Space journey aboard the Shuttle “Discovery” in 1985.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan, extended his congratulations to Arabsat for the successful launch of Badr-7, stressing that Arabsat has been playing a vital role in connecting the Arab World since launching its first satellite in 1985. Over the past years ARABSAT developed and adapted to the latest advanced technology in satellite broadcasting and telecommunications field to become one of the greatest satellite operator in the world.
His Royal Highness said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has foreseen the future by investing in the field of satellites and having a very ambitious program in KACST by sending the elite experts and scientists to the most advanced scientific institutions in the field of satellites around the world.
His Royal Highness added “Arabsat success in launching its first satellite of the 6th generation brings me back to a precious memories not only for me, but for all Arabs, when the Arab satellite B-1 was launched on board Discovery Shuttle 30 years ago. At the end I wish Arabsat all progress and prosperity as a successful model of the joint Arab unity.”
Eng. / Khalid bin Ahmed Balkheyour President & CEO of Arabsat said “We are very pleased with the successful launch of Arabsat first 6th generation satellite. Badr-7 has great satellite capacities with a wide range of coverage on a variety of different frequency beams including Ka-band to provide broadband and internet services as well as direct TV broadcasting and satellite telecommunications services. ”
Balkheyour added “ARABSAT currently has three new satellites under manufacturing within the 6th generation project, they will be successively launched over the next three years, with about US $1.5 billion investments, part of which Badr-7 manufacture and launching share is 400 Million.
Balkheyour concluded ” Arabsat success was not possible without the hard work of a group of Arab youth from our headquarter in Riyadh and our two control Stations in Riyadh and Tunisia, where these young dedicated Arab engineers are operating and controlling the satellites. They also participate fully in the designing and supervising during the stages of manufacturing of these satellites, so I dedicate to them my highest regards and appreciation”
