Thuraya

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE and founded in 1997, is a geostationary mobile satellite services (MSS) operator providing voice, broadband data, and IoT connectivity across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia — a combined coverage footprint encompassing over 160 countries and approximately 2/3 of the Earth's populated area.

Thuraya operates three Boeing HS-702 geostationary satellites: Thuraya-2 (launched 2003, Indian Ocean region), Thuraya-3 (launched 2008, covering Central Asia and Europe), and a supplemental satellite providing backup capacity. The satellites deliver L-band MSS services to handheld satellite phones, maritime and aeronautical terminals, and compact IoT data modems — enabling reliable connectivity in areas beyond terrestrial mobile network coverage including remote mining sites, offshore oil platforms, disaster zones, maritime vessels, and conflict areas where Thuraya satellite phones have been widely documented in use by journalists and aid workers.

Thuraya's product portfolio includes the XT-LITE and XT-PRO handheld satellite phones (among the world's smallest satellite handsets at 138g), the X5-Touch Android satellite smartphone, the WE terminal (a portable Wi-Fi hotspot over satellite), the SatSleeve adapter converting iPhones and Android phones into satellite communicators, and maritime/aeronautical broadband terminals. The company also offers IoT data services for asset tracking and telemetry applications.

Yahsat, the UAE satellite operator also headquartered in Abu Dhabi and majority-owned by Mubadala Investment Company (Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth), acquired majority control of Thuraya in 2010, embedding it within the UAE's sovereign satellite infrastructure strategy. Thuraya competes with Iridium, Inmarsat (Viasat), and GlobalStar in the global MSS market, differentiating through its Middle East and Central Asia coverage strength and compact handheld terminal portfolio.