Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) has won a tender for Qatar’s second satellite. Es’hail-2 is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2016.

Es’Hail-2 will be co-located with Es’Hail-1 (itself a joint-venture satellite with Eutelsat) at 26 degrees East hot spot over the MENA region.

Al Jazeera and beIN Sports are already using Es’hail 1 capacity for high definition broadcasting of their premium channels, including the recent 2014 FIFA World Cup. Es’hail 2 will have Ku-band and Ka-band capabilities and will provide TV distribution and government services to strategic stakeholders and commercial customers.

The Es’hail 2 design activities started on 17 July 2014 and will take approximately 27 months to complete the manufacturing and testing. The satellite is expected to launch at the end of 2016. In addition to the manufacture of Es’hail 2, MELCO will also operate an in-house satellite training programme for Qatari engineers.

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