Abu dhabi: Space42, the UAE-based AI-powered SpaceTech company, announced its consolidated financial results for the first half of 2026, reporting a record performance with a 15 percent year-on-year revenue increase to $260 million. The company's net profit reached $18 million, with a 7 percent margin, and normalised EBITDA increased by 12 percent to $116 million, with a 45 percent margin.
According to Emirates News Agency, Space42 maintained a robust balance sheet, concluding the period with $1.151 billion in cash and short-term deposits, alongside $102 million in cash capital expenditure. The company reported a substantial backlog of $6.3 billion, ensuring significant capacity to execute its strategy and long-term visibility over future cash flows. Additionally, Space42's share buyback programme, covering up to 2.5 percent of the company's issued share capital, was approved and is set to commence in the third quarter of 2026, pending approval by the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
Karim Michel Sabbagh, Managing Director of Space42, highlighted the company's exceptional performance, attributing the 15 percent revenue growth to a strong government business, rising demand for Earth observation and geospatial analytics, and disciplined strategic execution. Space Services achieved record performance, with revenue growth driven by a $700 million, 15-year capacity services contract following the successful launch of the Thuraya-4 satellite.
Smart Solutions also saw a 14 percent revenue increase in the first half of the year, spurred by growing government demand. The business is accelerating its transformation toward higher-value, programmatic dual-use engagements centered on Earth observation and geospatial analytics. Space42 demonstrated operational resilience and continuity, ensuring uninterrupted execution despite a dynamic operating environment.
Under its Secure Connectivity strategic pillar, Space42's Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellite programme is on schedule and within budget, supported by a $5.1 billion, 17-year government contract. This programme is anticipated to generate approximately $300 million in annual revenue from the fourth quarter of 2026 onwards.
Space42 continued advancing its dual-use broadband capabilities across low-Earth and medium-Earth orbits with a new multi-orbit strategy to complement the Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites. The company is ramping up Thuraya-4 operations with new government and commercial applications expected throughout 2026.
In partnership with Skylo Technologies, Space42 successfully tested Direct-to-Device SMS and SOS services on standard devices through Thuraya-4, with a commercial rollout by the end of 2026. The company also progressed in forming Equatys with Viasat to provide global Direct-to-Device connectivity using a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network open architecture, supported by over 100 MHz of globally harmonised spectrum.
In Earth observation, the Foresight-3, Foresight-4, and Foresight-5 satellites are now fully operational, reinforcing Smart Solutions' capabilities. Mira Aerospace further developed its High Altitude Platform Systems by enhancing the ApusNeo18 platform and payloads and commencing manufacture of the first ApusNeo30 prototype.
Additionally, Space42 scaled the GIQ platform on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, enhancing it with automated Foresight constellation data ordering, new AI models, and applications. The company expanded the operational deployment of the GIX platform to serve sovereign requirements and deliver actionable insights.
Space42 also advanced its joint venture with Autonomous A2Z, progressing its legal, governance, and commercial structure to deploy Level-4 autonomous driving solutions across the Middle East and Africa. An agreement with the Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility) was signed to develop a national geospatial navigation platform, aiming to enhance digital sovereignty and unify maps and spatial services across Abu Dhabi.