Es’hailSat engineers giving a presentation on Es’hail Satellite Project at an event organised by Qatar Society of Engineers.

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter


The next communication satellite of Qatar, Es’hail 2, is at an advanced planning stage, Es’hailSat - Qatar Satellite Company - engineers have said.
Es’hailSat engineers gave a technical presentation on Es’hail Satellite Project at an event organised by Qatar Society of Engineers (QSE) on November 12.
Thani Ali al-Malki, senior sales engineer, said the core mission of Es’hailSat was to provide high-quality and independent satellite services to meet the country’s national strategic interests.
Some of the key customers of the company he listed included broadcast companies such as Al Jazeera Network, whose requirements were being met through the satellite’s Ku-Band over the Mena region; the Qatari military forces, which require secure communications; and telecommunication companies such as Ooredoo and Vodafone.
Giving a background on the satellite programme, he said on May 10, 2010, ictQatar entered into a strategic partnership with Eutelsat to develop Qatar’s first satellite - Es’hail 1 - which now orbits at 25.5 degrees East above the earth’s atmosphere. Under the agreement, Es’hailSat owns 54.5% of Es’hail 1 while Eutelsat owns 45.5%.
Al-Maliki also gave a glimpse of the country’s next satellite in his presentation. He told the audience that the Es’hail 2 satellite was at an “advanced planning stage”, whose spectrum rights had already been secured at 26 degrees East, which is in the neighbourhood of Es’hail 1.  
Unlike Es’hail 1, however, Es’hail 2 would be fully owned by Es’hailSat, which would solely undertake the procurement, launch and operations of the new satellite.
Also, the dual operations of both Es’hail 1 and Es’hail 2 in the same orbital neighbourhood would provide additional in-orbit back-up capability and further operational flexibility, the engineer added.
Mohamed al-Delaimi, project manager, outlined the milestones of the Es’hail 1 satellite. The Request For Proposal for the satellite took place in the beginning of 2010 and the contract, which was awarded to US-based Space System Loral, was signed in July 2010.
He highlighted the fact that the entire programme, including satellite design, manufacturing, testing, launch and in-orbit testing,was carried out in a record time of only 41 months - between July 2010 and November 2013.
Es’hail 1 was launched on August 29 from a facility in South America.
Mohamed al-Sayed, senior satellite project engineer, gave a detailed technical presentation of the satellite, which consists of three main systems - the payload, communication and the bus.
He highlighted that the design life of the 6,387kg Es’hail 1 was 15 years, which could be extended to 20.7 years.
Muneera al-Shriem, satellite project engineer, gave an overview of the electrical power subsystem of the satellite, while Ibrahim al-Haj, senior satellite project engineer, gave a presentation on Es’hailSat’s intensive internship programme.
Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari, CEO of Es’hailSat, was also present on the occasion and was presented with a memento by QSE.