Today's Edition
MUDHI ALOBTHANI (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi-based space manufacturer OrbitWorks has returned to Make it in the Emirates with a more ambitious message than last year: the UAE is no longer only buying space services from abroad, but beginning to sell them to advanced aerospace markets.
That message is backed by visible progress on the ground. In the space of a year, the company has moved from an early-stage concept into a working industrial operation, with a manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, satellites under construction and its first international customers
"Last year, we were just an idea. This year, we have a facility, satellites being built here in Abu Dhabi, and customers on board," Hamdullah Mohib, CEO of OrbitWorks, told Aletihad on the sidelines of the conference.
OrbitWorks is using this year's platform to show how local space manufacturing can move the UAE into a new role in the global satellite economy. The company recently secured an international customer after France purchased 20% of the capacity on its Altair satellite constellation, a deal Mohib said marks a change in how the country's space sector is viewed abroad.
"This is significant because traditionally the UAE has been a consumer of space assets - we buy satellite services from other countries. Now, we are exporting those services," Mohib said.
He explained that the deal carries weight because France is home to some of Europe's largest aerospace companies and one of the world's most advanced space markets.
"For the first time, they are buying services from an outside company - particularly a Middle Eastern one. That changes the narrative about what the UAE is capable of doing."
Local manufacturing remains central to OrbitWorks' plans. The company says it is building satellites in Abu Dhabi and exporting services from the UAE, rather than relying on overseas production or positioning itself only as a regional reseller.
"Our goal is to create a globally competitive company so that when people think about buying satellite services in the future, they think of the UAE as one of the main hubs," Mohib explained.
He said that the UAE's ability to attract specialised talent and build advanced space technology locally is tied to the country's wider investment in infrastructure, education, safety and quality of life. Those foundations, he added, have created the conditions needed to bring satellite manufacturing into the country.
OrbitWorks is currently developing Altair, a 10-satellite AI-enabled constellation, while operating a manufacturing facility capable of building satellites for government and commercial clients. Its constellation-as-a-service model allows customers to use satellite capabilities without buying or operating satellites themselves, opening access to organisations that need space-based services but do not want to manage the cost and complexity of ownership.
"Clients can sign up and use only the services they need," Mohib said. "Because the satellites are AI-enabled, decisions can be made immediately on the fly - allowing us to respond rapidly, including in disaster-prevention scenarios."
Looking to the future, OrbitWorks aims to help attract more space companies to the UAE and support a wider space ecosystem that positions Abu Dhabi as one of the world's leading destinations for satellite and space services - in the same way other global cities have become known for aerospace or software.
"In the next 10 years, if there are five places in the world people go to buy space assets, the UAE will be one of them," he said. "We want Abu Dhabi to become for satellite services what Toulouse is for aerospace or Silicon Valley is for software."
