Satellite firm Astranis is set to deliver a satellite for Oman.

Astranis has announced a strategic agreement with Omani conglomerate MB Group to deliver a dedicated Astranis microGEO satellite.

The contract with Astranis is part of a $200 million investment by MB Group in support of Oman’s Vision 2040 program, spanning the microGEO satellite, ground stations, and associated infrastructure. It will be part of Astranis’ Block 3 launch planned for later this year.

“We’re entering a new era of satellite connectivity with Astranis,” said Usama Al Barwani, vice chairperson of MB LLC, in a statement. “This strategic collaboration supports Oman Vision 2040 to deliver resilient, high-performance infrastructure necessary for a digital-first country, empowering our government, our enterprises, and our people. For MB Group, it marks our continued journey not only in diversification of the group but to embrace cutting-edge technology. Harnessing these wider opportunities through using AI tools from global IoT monitoring to uninterrupted in-flight streaming.”

The microGEO satellite and its infrastructure, due to enter commercial service by early 2027, will form a dedicated network giving the Sultanate of Oman sovereign control over its digital infrastructure. San Francisco-based Astranis has become a major developer of powerful small geostationary satellites, coveted by up-and-coming space powers. The company possesses a $1 billion backlog for more than 12 MicroGEO satellites launching over the coming two years.

At the project’s signing ceremony, Astranis co-founder and CEO John Gedmark explained the expansion in sovereign access in the region is “starting in Oman,” a trend that was increasingly being treated as strategic infrastructure in a more uncertain global environment. He explained that the agreement would establish a digital backbone to power the nation’s economy and enable resilient control of critical energy and transportation systems.

The territory has ambitious goals in the space sector, even compared to its Gulf neighbours, many of whom have expansive space projects. The nation established its Etlaq Spaceport in 2022, which will be the site of a PLD Space’s test flight of its flagship Miura 5 rocket later this year – the latter being one of just five recipients of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s European Launcher Challenge (ELC).

Unlike its neighbors, Oman features an expansive West-facing coastline, a geographical advantage invaluable to conventional equatorial satellite launches – the feature that made US base Cape Canaveral such a global destination for launch.