In this instalment of our Meet the Member Series we hear from Es’hailSat.
Tell us about your company
Es’hailSat – The Qatar Satellite Company, incorporated in 2010, provides satellite, broadcast, teleport, and managed services. Es’hailSat is a private joint stock company wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Strategically located in Doha, Qatar, our coverage extends across the Middle East and North Africa, delivering critical communication solutions to broadcasters, telecommunications providers, enterprises, and government entities. Our satellites, Es’hail-1 and Es’hail-2, are co-located at the 25.5°/26°E orbital position, recognized as the prime TV broadcasting hotspot for the MENA region. Complementing this orbital infrastructure is our 50,000 sqm Tier-4 certified teleport facility, enabling the delivery of reliable, secure, and high-performance connectivity services.
What industry challenges are having the biggest influence on your work at the moment?
One of the most pressing challenges Es’hailSat faces is piracy in the MENA region. Unauthorized content distribution undermines revenue for broadcasters and disrupts service reliability. Es’hailSat is actively combating this through its role in the MENA Anti-Piracy Coalition, using advanced monitoring systems to detect and respond to piracy threats. This initiative helps maintain high service reliability and supports a fair media ecosystem.
Secondly, the rise of over-the-top (OTT) platforms and the limited growth opportunities in linear television have disrupted traditional satellite broadcasting models. Es’hailSat acknowledges these shifts but remains confident in the industry’s resilience and our own ability to adapt through innovation and strategic partnerships. Furthermore, the need for sovereign satellite capabilities, be it for broadcasting or connectivity, continue to offer pockets of demand that Es’hailSat has been working hard to tap across the region.
Lastly, in the MENA region, broadband costs remain high due to limited competition among ISPs and expensive satellite infrastructure. Es’hailSat sees satellite broadband as a key solution for underserved areas but emphasizes the need for public-private partnerships and infrastructure sharing to reduce costs. The company advocates for national-level broadband strategies that integrate satellite and terrestrial technologies.
What innovative solutions are you working on to address the issue?
On the broadcasting side, Es’hailSat now offers a full suite of playout services designed for broadcasters and content creators. These range from basic standalone setups to complete systems with media asset management (MAM), secondary event handling, and multi-format output capabilities. The platform supports UHD video, multiple audio formats, subtitling systems, ad marker detection, and remote monitoring. Customers can choose between Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or fully managed service models.
The playout infrastructure is integrated with Es’hailSat’s teleport and broadcast center, ensuring 24/7 support and seamless delivery across satellite, IPTV, cable, and terrestrial platforms. This setup is ideal for launching new TV channels or upgrading existing ones with robust automation and compliance features.
We are also working on building our VSAT services into specific domains such as Maritime, Energy and Government. This is being done via a combination of partnerships with service providers and enhancing our own capabilities from our Teleport facility. Multi-orbit satellite solutions via a combination of GEO and NGSO systems is also an area of growth and exploration for us.
Es’hailSat’s teleport in Al Ghuwariyah, Doha, is certified by the World Teleport Association (WTA) as Tier-4 – the highest standard for uptime, security, and operational excellence 3. The facility spans 50,000 sqm and provides:
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Antenna Hosting: Space for up to 26 antennas (4M+), allowing customers to co-locate and manage their own uplink/downlink operations.
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Disaster Recovery Solutions: Redundant teleport connectivity enables 24/7 backup for playout, corporate data, and uplink/downlink services.
What are your thoughts on spectrum management?
Es’hailSat is actively updating its corporate and asset replacement strategy to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving satellite landscape. We are positioning ourselves as a multi-orbit player, with plans to expand beyond GEO into NGSO domains. This includes evaluating partnerships with other satellite operators, and other organic and inorganic business expansion opportunities.
Our strategy also involves reassessing the use of existing frequency bands and exploring new payload types and applications. Es’hailSat is particularly focused on ensuring that our spectrum rights are aligned with future satellite development plans, including the replacement or extension of Es’hail-1 and Es’hail-2, and the planned launch of Es’hail-3.
Es’hailSat has been studying the market to explore hybrid terrestrial-satellite networks, including 5G/6G and Direct-to-Device (D2D) services. We are in the process of assessing the feasibility and strategic fit of integrating 5G NTN capabilities into Es’hailSat’s service portfolio, particularly for IoT and mobility applications.
The company is also monitoring developments in the 3GPP standards for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), which are critical for aligning satellite services with terrestrial 5G deployments.
What is your view on Flat Panel Antennas?
Es’hailSat is actively incorporating FPAs into our hybrid VSAT network architecture, especially for mobility applications. In a recent case study, the company showcased a vehicle-based platform that integrates GEO VSAT terminals using Es’hail-1’s Ku-band coverage, LEO satellite connectivity for global reach, GSM radio units and SD-WAN routers for dynamic traffic routing. The FPA plays a critical role in this setup by offering a low-profile, discreet antenna solution that maintains vehicle aerodynamics and aesthetics. This makes it ideal for commercial fleets, emergency response vehicles, and other mobile platforms requiring reliable, multi-orbit connectivity.
Es’hailSat views FPAs as a key enabler of next-generation mobility services. Their compact form factor and electronic beam steering capabilities allow for seamless integration into platforms where traditional parabolic antennas would be impractical. FPAs also support rapid deployment and scalability, enhanced service continuity in remote areas and multi-orbit compatibility, especially in hybrid GEO-LEO networks. This aligns with Es’hailSat’s broader goals of expanding into NGSO services and supporting critical communications across sectors like oil & gas, defense, and logistics.
How do you think the industry is dealing with virtualisation?
Es’hailSat recognizes that virtualisation is no longer optional – it’s a foundational shift in how satellite ground infrastructure is designed, deployed, and managed. The company sees virtualisation as a way to increase operational agility by decoupling hardware from software, enable multi-orbit service delivery, especially as it expands into NGSO systems, reduce costs through shared infrastructure and cloud-native architectures and accelerate service provisioning for enterprise and government clients. This is particularly relevant as Es’hailSat expands into positioning as a hybrid service provider offering connectivity across verticals like oil & gas, defense, and for disaster recovery.
Es’hailSat’s Tier-4 certified teleport in Doha is already equipped with the foundational elements needed to support virtualised ground systems. These include redundant fiber connectivity to multiple telcos, breakout to MPLS, VPN, and public internet, 24/7 CMC and engineering support with secure bandwidth pools. This infrastructure allows Es’hailSat to host virtualised network functions, manage software-defined modems, and support containerised applications for satellite operations.
Do you have any interesting plans for the next couple of months?
The team at Es’hailSat is working on our new satellite program Es’hail-3, on topics such as 5G NTN, and optical ground stations to enhance flexibility and data throughput. We have also enabled and are expanding upon AI-powered diagnostics (such as via our partnership with Dataminer), which are being used to proactively manage network issues and improve service quality. The company is also exploring virtualized ground systems to reduce costs and support multi-orbit service models. In addition to these, new business models such as data analytics based on Earth Observation and various sensor information are also being worked on by the team.
Why do you feel it is important to be a member of SIG?
SIG’s core mission is to promote innovation in satellite communications by fostering collaboration among operators, manufacturers, and solution providers. Membership gives Es’hailSat access to a forum where technical challenges and operational inefficiencies are openly discussed, enabling the company to stay ahead of emerging technologies, influence industry-wide innovation agendas, reduce operational costs and improve service delivery. This aligns directly with Es’hailSat’s commitment to being a world-class operator contributing to Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
SIG provides a platform for tackling pressing issues such as spectrum sharing and interference mitigation, integration of 5G NTN and LEO systems and virtualisation of ground infrastructure. These are all areas where Es’hailSat is actively investing and evolving our strategy, making SIG membership a natural extension of its technical and regulatory engagement.