The chief executive officer of UAE’s satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) is stepping down effective from April 18, 2021.

Masood Sharif Mahmood, who has been the firm’s CEO for nearly nine years, will join the board of directors, Yahsat said Tuesday.

His post will be taken over by the current CEO of the company's subsidiary, Thuraya Telecommunications Company and the general manager of Yahsat Government Solutions, Ali Al Hashemi.

The company also announced that Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO of the UAE Investments platform at Mubadala Investment Company, will assume the position of board chairman, while Badr Al Olama, executive director of the UAE Clusters unit within Mubadala’s UAE investments platform, will join as board member.

The upcoming CEO, Yahsat said, will bring a wealth of satellite knowledge and industry experience to his new role. He has a background in mechanical engineering and an MBA degree in Business from the London Business School.

Upcoming satellite

“In his role as CEO of Thuraya, he has successfully turned around the company within two years and, with the recently announced construction of Thuraya 4-NGS, the next generation satellite system, the Group’s products and solutions portfolio will be greatly enhanced for both government and commercial customers,” Yahsat said.

In August last year, the satellite operator unveiled its new project, the Thuraya 4-NGS. The L-band satellite being built by Airbus is part of Thuraya’s $500 million programme that seeks to transform the company’s space and ground systems and enable its products and solutions portfolio.

The firm announced recently that it had picked six male and female Emirati engineers to form a programme management office (PMO) to ensure the timely delivery of the spacecraft, which is due for launch in late 2023.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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© ZAWYA 2021