UAE company pioneers affordable satellite phone coverage

At the World Space Business Week in Paris, Karim Sabbagh, a space technology company Space42's managing director, proposed a project to give the UAE a central role in reshaping global communications. The platform, Equatys, aims to deploy thousands of satellites to provide connectivity for people around the globe through their mobile phones, a technology known as direct-to-device.

Sabbagh, an Abu Dhabi-based Lebanese-Canadian executive, stated that the opportunity is immense, potentially moving the industry from fewer than 10 million users to reaching billions. Unlike SpaceX's Starlink, Equatys seeks shared infrastructure to operate at comparable costs to traditional phone providers. Competitors include Amazon's Globalstar, which was acquired for $10.8 billion, and Elveo Mobile, a merger of Lynk Global and Omnispace.

Space42 will partner with US company Viasat to launch Equatys, committing $1 billion to the project. The plan is to launch 2,800 satellites on 60 orbital planes and three altitude layers, with the service expected to start in 2029. Sabbagh compared Equatys to undersea cables and communication towers, emphasizing the novelty and challenge of the project.

The UAE's space program benefits from Equatys, providing resilience against geopolitical shocks and supporting critical infrastructure during times of crisis, such as the Iran-US conflict.