Signed in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, the 50-satellite constellation will process imagery directly in orbit to cut emergency alert times from hours to seconds.
PARIS — September 10, 2026 :United Arab Emirates-based space operator Marlan Space and satellite infrastructure firm Loft Orbital have launched a $1 billion consortium to build Altair-Next Gen, a 50-satellite fleet designed to process real-time observation data directly in orbit using artificial intelligence.
The agreement was signed at the International Space Summit in Paris in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, formalizing a joint push by France and the UAE to establish sovereign leadership in orbital edge computing.
Altair-Next Gen departs from traditional Earth observation networks that downlink large, raw image files to terrestrial stations for processing—a workflow that often creates multi-hour delays. Instead, the constellation’s sensors will run onboard AI models that analyze optical, radar, and other sensor streams instantaneously, transmitting only distilled event notifications to ground stations within seconds.
The initial deployment calls for 50 satellites, establishing continuous coverage rather than intermittent passes. At this scale, the network ensures that at least one satellite remains positioned near critical geographic corridors at any given time, enabling immediate tasking for wildfire tracking, maritime surveillance, disaster relief, and critical infrastructure defense.
Manufacturing and integration will take place at the Orbitworks assembly facility in the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD). Orbitworks, founded in 2024 as a joint venture between Marlan Space and Loft Orbital, gives the program the industrial throughput required to scale production from baseline batches of 10 satellites up to the full 50-satellite fleet.
The announcement comes one day after Abu Dhabi-listed conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC) agreed to acquire an 80 percent stake in Marlan Space, expanding its portfolio across commercial aerospace and deep-tech sectors. Syed Basar Shueb, Chief Executive Officer of IHC, described the project as a critical strategic bridge connecting sovereign capital with exportable high-tech capabilities.
Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, Chief Executive Officer of Marlan Space and Orbitworks, said the constellation shifts the Emirates from a consumer to an international supplier of satellite services, anchoring sovereign intellectual property and aerospace supply chains in Abu Dhabi.
Operationally, the constellation functions as a shared orbital platform. Multiple defense, civil, and commercial users can access an onboard AI application store to deploy specialized software across the shared hardware. France’s frontier AI firm Mistral will provide language and reasoning models deployed directly on the satellites, enabling users to query systems and initiate tasking commands using natural language.
United States-based real-time intelligence provider BlackSky will supply very high-resolution optical observation payloads, while French launcher MaiaSpace has been designated as the preferred launch service provider as its commercial operations come online.
Loft Orbital, which already oversees more than 100 orbital payloads and 20 AI missions, will orchestrate flight software, integration, and constellation operations. Chief Executive Officer Pierre-Damien Vaujour confirmed that the first batch of satellites constructed at the Abu Dhabi site is slated to launch in the coming weeks.
