Es’hailSat is a Qatar satellite company that has been eyeing the orbital territory, 25.5 degrees East, for some time. The company signed a contract with another satellite company interested in that particular spot in space, Europe’s EUTELSAT, two years ago. A partnership between the two emerged from the mutual ambition to bring superior network services to the Middle Eastern, North African and Central Asian markets, where many opportunities remain open at this time.

Between the companies spawned EYTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1, a superior satellite and successor to the EutelSat 25A2, the European company’s last project. Arianespace, France’s first commercial space travel company, was expected to launch in 2013.

States Eutelsat’s (News - Alert) CEO, Michel de Rosen: "Together with our partner, Es'hailSat, we are delighted to entrust the launch of our satellite to Arianespace that has delivered Eutelsat with reliability, flexibility and on-time performance over almost 30 years.”

Al Kuwari, CEO of Es’HailSat, matches Rosen’s tone: "We are delighted that, together with Eutelsat, we have been able to select Arianespace (News - Alert) to launch our first satellite. Es'hail 1 is just the start of our mission to provide high quality, independent satellite services to meet Qatar's national stakeholder's interests and serve customers throughout the Middle East and North Africa".

Le Gall, CEO of Arianespace, holds that the three-way partnership is founded on equal enthusiasm for this project: “Our appreciation also goes to Es'HailSat for selecting Arianespace for their first launch. We are delighted to serve a new operator in this region of the world."

Arianespace was chosen for a reason. The French company is responsible for the launch of the world’s largest commercial satellite, TerreStar (News - Alert)-1 back in 2010. However, the EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail, which is currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral, is estimated to weigh over 6 tons upon its debut— a relatively average size for a commercial satellite with similar purposes.

The announcement of the signed contract with Arianespace to deliver their satellites into orbit was made at the 2012 Satellite Show, which is currently being held in Washington D.C. The press release covering the story disclosed that EutelSat hopes the project will secure them Ku-band continuity while Es’hailSat would like to establish Ku-band resources. Together the companies will share Ka-band capability, and enter the market with the new endowments.