Airbus announced Monday that it had received a contract from Yahsat, a UAE satellite services provider, for new geostationary telecommunications satellites.
The satellites are known as Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5. The deal to design and build them was inked with the Airbus Defence and Space unit. Airbus will also provide ground control components.
Both spacecraft will have a design life of 15 years and are planned to be launched in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
Airbus said in a statement: "Both AY4 and AY5 satellites will offer secure governmental communications over a wide geographical area across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. The new advanced satellites will eventually replace Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2, which were launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and based on a previous version of the Airbus-built Eurostar platform."