Altair-1 will now undergo post-shipment testing and launch vehicle integration ahead of its launch with SpaceX in October.

Abu Dhabi-based satellite company Orbitworks has shipped Altair-1, the first satellite in its planned Altair constellation, to the United States for final launch preparations, marking a major milestone for the UAE’s emerging commercial space industry.

Altair-1 is the UAE’s first commercial AI-enabled Earth observation satellite and is the first of 10 spacecraft that will make up Orbitworks’ Altair constellation. The satellite was developed, manufactured and integrated in the UAE before being transported to the US ahead of its planned launch in October 2026.

The satellite was transported from Dubai World Central (DWC) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) aboard an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter. A dedicated Emirates SkyCargo team managed the end-to-end shipment, maintaining environmental and safety controls required for the transportation of sensitive aerospace hardware.

The move to the US represents an important transition from satellite manufacturing and testing in Abu Dhabi to launch preparation. Orbitworks said the milestone demonstrates the capabilities being developed within the UAE’s space ecosystem and the broader national effort to establish the country as a producer and exporter of advanced space technologies.

“Altair-1 is the product of hard work by an incredible team, and today marks a historic moment, not just for Orbitworks, but for the UAE’s ambitions in space,” said Schahan Sediqi, General Manager of Orbitworks. He credited in-country partners, including Emirates SkyCargo, for helping deliver the spacecraft safely to Los Angeles and said the company is now looking ahead to October, when Altair-1 is expected to enter orbit and begin its mission.

Altair is designed as a multi-sensor Earth observation constellation that combines several sensing technologies with onboard artificial intelligence and processing capabilities. Orbitworks says the system is designed to move beyond simply collecting imagery by processing information closer to where it is captured and producing more actionable intelligence with reduced latency.

The constellation combines sub-metre optical imaging, shortwave infrared, thermal, hyperspectral and radio-frequency (RF) sensing. These complementary capabilities are intended to provide a broader picture of activity and changes on Earth, allowing the system to analyse visual, thermal, spectral and RF information.

Onboard AI and edge computing are central to the mission. Instead of relying solely on sending raw data back to Earth for processing, Altair is designed to analyse information in orbit and generate outputs that can be acted upon more quickly. Orbitworks says this approach can reduce the time between data collection and usable intelligence, potentially allowing information to reach users within minutes.

The technology is intended to serve a range of applications, including environmental and land monitoring, disaster response, maritime domain awareness, infrastructure oversight, resource assessment, asset monitoring and supply-chain and route visibility. The system also has potential applications across government, defence and commercial markets.

Altair-1 is the first of 10 planned satellites that Orbitworks is developing for the Altair constellation. The company unveiled the programme in 2025, describing it as the UAE’s first homegrown AI-enabled Earth observation constellation. All 10 satellites are being assembled and integrated at Orbitworks’ 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi’s KEZAD economic zone, which was established for commercial-scale satellite production.

The facility has been designed to support production at scale, with Orbitworks previously stating that it has capacity to manufacture up to 50 satellites annually. The company’s broader objective is to establish sovereign satellite manufacturing and mission capabilities in the UAE while creating systems that can eventually serve international customers.

The complete Altair constellation is expected to be deployed over the 12 months following the first launch, according to Orbitworks. The company says the constellation is designed to provide frequent revisit capability and persistent monitoring, enabling users to track changes and events with greater regularity.

The Altair programme has already begun attracting international customers. Earlier this month, Orbitworks announced that CNES, the French Space Agency, had secured dedicated capacity on the 10-satellite Altair constellation through a multi-year arrangement with Loft Orbital, Orbitworks’ mission operations partner.

The agreement was described by Orbitworks as one of the first instances of a European government space agency securing capacity from a satellite constellation owned, manufactured and integrated in the Middle East.

Orbitworks has also signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy to provide Earth observation services through the Altair constellation. The arrangement is intended to support research across the maritime ecosystem, minerals exploration and environmental monitoring.

The company has positioned these agreements as evidence of growing international and regional demand for commercially available Earth observation intelligence generated from UAE-built space infrastructure.