The first commercial satellite built in the UAE has successfully reached Earth orbit. Altair-1, designed, assembled and tested in Abu Dhabi, entered its planned orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and its first signal was successfully received.

Altair-1 was launched on Thursday, October 1, at 11:32am California time, or 10:32pm UAE time, as part of the Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX said the mission carried a total of 130 payloads into low Earth orbit.

Orbitworks said Altair-1 successfully entered orbit after separating from the launch vehicle and that communications had been established. The satellite is now undergoing commissioning and in-orbit systems testing.

Altair-1 is the first of 10 satellites in the Altair programme and marks the start of the UAE’s first commercial AI-enabled Earth observation constellation. The remaining nine satellites are scheduled to be launched by 2027. Once the network is complete, it will be able to revisit almost any location on Earth approximately every four hours.

Each satellite in the constellation is equipped with five types of sensors: optical, short-wave infrared, thermal and hyperspectral cameras, as well as a radio-frequency receiver. NVIDIA graphics processors will also enable some data to be processed directly in orbit, allowing actionable information to be produced within minutes.

The constellation is designed for applications including early wildfire detection, vessel activity monitoring, crisis and natural disaster management, environmental monitoring, food security, infrastructure monitoring and security operations.

Altair-1 was built at the Orbitworks manufacturing facility in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi, or KEZAD. The 4,645-square-metre facility, which opened in November 2025, can produce up to 50 satellites a year when operating at full capacity. Orbitworks is a joint venture between UAE-based Marlan Space, a subsidiary of International Holding Company, and US-based Loft Orbital.

Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Chairman of the UAE Space Agency, said the launch of Altair-1 demonstrated the country’s growing capacity to develop and manufacture advanced space technologies. He said the UAE aims to rank among the world’s 10 largest space economies under its National Space Strategy 2031.

Altair-1 is not the first satellite built in the UAE. KhalifaSat was launched in 2018 as the first satellite developed entirely by Emirati engineers. Altair-1 is significant because it is the first commercial satellite built in the UAE and marks the beginning of the country’s first domestically manufactured commercial Earth observation constellation.