Mohammed Al Barwani Satellites Company (MBSAT), part of Mohammed Al Barwani Group, has signed a strategic agreement with ST Engineering iDirect to develop sovereign satellite communications services in Oman and the region, ahead of a planned launch in 2027.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr Mohammed Al Barwani, Group Chairman, coinciding with the State Visit of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, may God protect and preserve him, to the United Kingdom.
The network will use capacity from MBSAT-1, a sovereign MicroGEO geostationary satellite built and delivered by Astranis, to serve government entities, telecommunications operators, enterprises and critical infrastructure sectors, supporting Oman’s digital infrastructure and space capabilities.
ST Engineering iDirect will supply Ka-band gateway infrastructure, the Intuition baseband system, the Foresight network management platform, service provisioning and management tools, open APIs for systems integration, and training and technical support throughout the platform’s lifecycle.
Intuition’s cloud-based architecture enables dynamic resource allocation to optimise capacity utilisation, while Foresight supports network management and operational automation, enabling services to scale with demand.
Ammar Al Rawahi, General Manager of MBSAT, said: “This partnership represents an important milestone in our efforts to build an advanced satellite communications platform in Oman and the region. Through our collaboration with ST Engineering iDirect, we are establishing the technical infrastructure required to launch services efficiently, respond to evolving customer needs and expand into new markets, supporting the sustainable long-term growth of our business.”
Sridhar Kuppanna, Chief Executive Officer of ST Engineering iDirect, said: “We are providing MBSAT with a flexible, software-defined ground platform that integrates with its existing operational environment. This enables more efficient service deployment and operations today, with the flexibility to scale, introduce new capabilities and evolve as requirements change.”
