Thuraya Telecommunications Company

The UAE's mobile satellite services operator, founded in 1997 as the country's first national satellite operator, now the mobility arm of Yahsat Space Services within Space42. It delivers L-band voice, data, IoT and direct-to-device connectivity via GEO satellites, handsets and terminals through 140+ distribution partners, anchored by the new Thuraya-4 (T4-NGS) system.

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Launches

Payloads in Orbit· view →

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Active Sats (reported)

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Funding Raised

Products & Services

Thuraya 2

operational

communications satellite

L-band GEO mobile communications satellite supporting Thuraya's voice and data services.

Thuraya 3

operational

communications satellite

L-band GEO mobile communications satellite extending coverage toward Asia-Pacific.

Thuraya-4 (T4-NGS)

operational

communications satellite

Next-generation MSS satellite with a 12 m reflector, onboard processing and software-defined architecture; launched January 2025, global availability November 2025; 15-year USD 708M government contract.

Since 2025

Thuraya satellite handsets and terminals

operational

user terminal

Satellite phones and IoT/M2M and broadband data terminals for land, maritime and airborne use.

Direct-to-device service (with Skylo)

development

direct to cell

Standards-based 3GPP NTN direct-to-device connectivity via Thuraya-4; demonstrated a bidirectional voice call with no modified SIM (2026).

Key Challenges

Transitioning legacy MSS subscribers and handset ecosystem onto Thuraya-4 and direct-to-device standards.Competition from smartphone direct-to-cell constellations (Starlink/T-Mobile, AST SpaceMobile).

Roadmap

✓

Launch Thuraya-4 (T4-NGS)2025-01

completed

✓

Thuraya-4 global commercial availability2025-11

completed

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Standards-based D2D services via Thuraya-4 with Skylo

in progress

Event Timeline (0 events)

No events recorded.