Arabsat hands China the construction of its Arabsat-50 satellite: a contract that says a lot about the space market

The Arab Satellite Communications Organization, Arabsat, has signed an agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) to build its new satellite, called Arabsat-50. The name pays tribute to the organisation’s fiftieth anniversary: it was created in 1976 by the countries of the Arab League to give the region its own space telecommunications capabilities.

The contract, announced at the end of September 2026, looks technical. Yet it sheds light on a shift in the global satellite market: the growing role of Chinese manufacturers among operators in the Middle East and Africa, long almost exclusive customers of European and American industry.

A satellite for television

Arabsat-50 will be a high-power Ku-band satellite, the frequency range used for television received directly by households on their dishes. It will be placed at the orbital position of 26 degrees East, one of the most important in the region, from which Arabsat has long broadcast hundreds of channels to the Arab world, North Africa and beyond.

According to Arabsat, the satellite will offer great operational flexibility: its beams and frequencies can be reallocated as needed, which improves capacity management and service continuity. It will also serve as a reserve for the rest of the fleet, notably at 26 degrees East, as part of the organisation’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

• Manufacturer: China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC).
• Platform: DFH-3E, described by Arabsat as proven and reliable.
• Use: direct-to-home satellite television in Ku band, for public and private channels in the region.
• Position: 26 degrees East, with a backup role for the fleet.

China, the turnkey supplier

CGWIC is the Chinese state-owned company in charge of marketing the country’s satellites and launches internationally. It has made a speciality of “in-orbit” contracts: the customer receives a satellite that is built, launched and commissioned, often accompanied by financing and training for its teams. This formula has appealed to several countries that wanted a national satellite without having a space industry.

Africa offers several examples. Nigeria had CGWIC build its NigComSat-1 communications satellite, launched in 2007, then its replacement NigComSat-1R in 2011, after the first was lost. Algeria did the same with Alcomsat-1, launched in 2017. Other countries in Asia and Latin America have followed. Each time, the Chinese pitch combined a competitive price, controlled timelines and financial support.

A turning point for Arabsat

For Arabsat, the choice is significant. The organisation, headquartered in Riyadh, long had its satellites built by European and American manufacturers, and had some of them launched on Western rockets, such as Arabsat-6A, launched in 2019. Entrusting Arabsat-50 to a Chinese manufacturer reflects a diversification of partners, consistent with the economic rapprochement between the Gulf countries and China.

Technical and commercial considerations also play a part. For a television satellite, which has to operate reliably for around fifteen years, the platform matters more than novelty. The DFH-3E platform, derived from a Chinese family in use for years, meets that need. And a Chinese satellite generally still costs less than its Western competitors.

How a television satellite is built

A telecommunications satellite has two main parts. First, the platform: the structure, solar panels, batteries, the propulsion that keeps it in position, and the control systems. Then, the payload: the antennas and transponders that receive the signals sent from the ground by television channels and relay them to households’ dishes. For Arabsat-50, CGWIC will supply a DFH-3E platform and a Ku-band payload.

Building such a satellite usually takes two to three years, followed by the launch and then several weeks of manoeuvres and in-orbit testing before it enters service. The Arabsat-50 timetable was not detailed in the announcement, nor were the value of the contract or the chosen launcher. In CGWIC’s turnkey contracts, the launch is often carried out by a Chinese Long March rocket.

The choice of the 26 degrees East position is no accident. Geostationary orbital positions are a scarce resource, allocated and coordinated internationally by the International Telecommunication Union. Arabsat has long operated its Badr family of satellites there, watched by millions of households. Replacing or reinforcing the satellites at this position is essential to avoid losing the channels and viewers used to it.

Satellite TV holds its ground

You might think satellite television had been doomed by streaming. Yet in the Arab world and in Africa, it remains a mass medium. Reception is free once the dish is installed, it depends neither on an internet subscription nor on the quality of the mobile network, and it covers rural areas as well as cities. For millions of households, it is still the main source of news and entertainment.

Satellite operators are nonetheless adapting their model. Recent satellites, such as Arabsat-50, are more flexible so they can change use over the years. And the sector is facing competition from low-orbit constellations such as Starlink, which mainly target internet access but are transforming the economics of space.

For African and Arab television channels, the availability of reliable and affordable satellite capacity remains an economic issue. Renting a transponder is expensive, and competition between operators, Arabsat, Nilesat, Eutelsat and others, sets prices. A modern, flexible satellite allows the operator to offer better-suited packages, such as temporary capacity for sporting events or regional channels.

What it means for Africa

For African countries considering a national or regional satellite, the Arabsat contract confirms that the Chinese offer has become a benchmark option, alongside European and American manufacturers. That is good news for competition and prices. But experience shows that a satellite is about more than its construction: it takes teams able to operate it, customers for its capacity, and a replacement plan well before it reaches the end of its life. Nigeria learned with the loss of NigComSat-1 in 2008 that depending on a single supplier and a single satellite can be costly. Space sovereignty is built over time, with local skills, not just with a contract. The space agencies created in recent years in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and Rwanda, and the African Space Agency based in Cairo, have precisely the task of building those skills.