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IHC pursues 80% stake in Marlan Holding. Sun 13 Sep 2026 · AP News Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company is moving to acquire an 80 per cent stake in Marlan Holding, giving the investment group a controlling position in the company behind UAE-based Marlan Space. The proposed transaction is being carried out through IHC's wholly owned subsidiary International Tech Group SP LLC and remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the company said. Financial terms were not disclosed. Marlan Holding RSC Ltd is the holding company behind Marlan Space, an Abu Dhabi-based investor-operator focused on space and space-related businesses and technologies. Its portfolio spans space systems, autonomous operations and advanced computing, placing the planned acquisition within IHC's wider push into deep technology and the expanding commercial space economy. IHC said the deal would provide a platform for investment and growth across satellite infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and emerging space technologies. The group also expects potential collaboration between Marlan Space and other businesses across its portfolio in areas such as technology, data and infrastructure where satellite capabilities can support commercial applications. "This acquisition gives IHC a strategic position in the new space economy and provides Marlan Space with access to the Group's capital, capabilities and Dynamic Value Networks to accelerate its next phase of growth," IHC chief executive Syed Basar Shueb said in the company's announcement. He said space was becoming an increasingly important part of the global technology and infrastructure landscape, with applications extending across communications, Earth observation, data and artificial intelligence. A central asset within Marlan Space is Orbitworks, an Abu Dhabi-based private space infrastructure company established as a joint venture with US-based Loft Orbital. Orbitworks was formed to manufacture commercial satellites at scale and operates from a purpose-built facility in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi. The facility is designed to support the production of Earth observation, communications and other spacecraft, together with specialised payloads, giving Marlan Space an operating presence in satellite manufacturing as well as investment exposure to the sector. Marlan Space's flagship Altair programme is an artificial intelligence-enabled Earth observation constellation combining optical, hyperspectral, thermal, infrared and passive radio-frequency payloads with onboard processing. IHC said the first satellite has been completed and further satellites are being assembled in Abu Dhabi. The system is intended to bring together multiple sensors and computing capability in orbit, allowing data to be processed closer to where it is collected and supporting faster delivery of information to users across commercial and public-sector applications. The acquisition announcement was followed a day later by plans involving Marlan Space, Loft Orbital, French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI and other partners to develop what the companies described as a large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure in space. IHC said that programme would involve investment of up to $1 billion and would use a planned satellite constellation to run artificial intelligence models in orbit. The project, known as Altair-Next Gen, is intended to combine satellite infrastructure with onboard computing so data can be analysed in space rather than relying entirely on transmission to ground stations before processing. Initial applications identified by the companies include maritime awareness, wildfire detection, disaster response and protection of ports and critical infrastructure. Orbitworks is expected to manufacture satellites for the programme at its Abu Dhabi facility. The planned constellation is designed to scale from 10 satellites to 50, according to the companies, with the larger deployment intended to provide more continuous observation and faster alerts. Marlan Space chief executive Hamdullah Mohib said the company's strategy was based on moving more intelligence into orbit and building that capability from the UAE. He also serves as chief executive of Orbitworks. For IHC, the proposed majority purchase would add another technology-focused platform to a portfolio that spans more than 1,300 subsidiaries and investments across sectors including financial services, energy, property, healthcare and technology. Follow Arabian Post. 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Loft Orbital and Marlan Space unveil US$ 1 billion plan for 50-Satellite AI constellation. As w.media's Europe and Americas correspondent, Conor covers the data center industry in the western hemisphere. Conor's decade long experience spans digital infrastructure, software, cybersecurity, telecom, biotech, and construction. September 11, 2026 at 5:28 PM GMT+8 Loft Orbital (Loft), a global space infrastructure company, and Marlan Space, a UAE-based investor and subsidiary of IHC, announced a US$ 1 billion program at the International Space Summit in Paris, to build a 50-satellite constellation designed to process data using artificial intelligence while in orbit which expands on a 10-satellite demonstration program. According to a press release, the satellites will carry radar, optical and other sensors and will provide services to government users in France, Europe and the UAE, as well as commercial customers. The system is designed to process satellite observations in orbit rather than sending raw data to Earth for processing which could allow information to be delivered within seconds instead of hours. Loft Orbital will provide the satellite platforms, onboard AI and software, and constellation operations. The company has supported more than 100 payloads and 20 AI missions in orbit. Its work includes a demonstration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory involving a satellite running a vision-language model onboard. Pierre-Damien Vaujour, CEO, Loft Orbital, said, "For the past few years, we have been working on deploying AI applications in space and orchestrating how they work together with this constellation, we're giving our partners building agentic AI workflows in space a true world-class satellite infrastructure." The satellites will be manufactured by Orbitworks, a joint venture between Marlan Space and Loft Orbital, at its facility in Abu Dhabi. The companies describe the facility as the region's largest high-volume manufacturing site for commercial satellite constellations. "When we set out to build this program, we bet on a future where intelligence would move into orbit, and that the UAE would be one of the places building it," said Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, CEO, Marlan Space and Orbitworks [signing on behalf of Marlan Space]. "This is where the industry is going, and we're proud to be at the front of it. Fifty satellites, working together in groups with different capabilities as one system, make this one of the most advanced constellations in the world. This turns a factory into a national capability, and the UAE from a buyer to a seller of satellite services, with engineering skills, intellectual property, and a supply chain that stays in the country long after the satellites are in orbit." French AI company Mistral is joining the consortium to provide onboard AI models for reasoning and natural-language tasking. Its models will also support services offered through the AI application store. U.S.-based BlackSky, a real-time, space-based intelligence company, will provide high-resolution optical satellites and its involvement builds on its existing relationship with Loft Orbital, including work through Leostella, Loft Orbital's former joint venture with Thales Alenia Space. Brian O'Toole, CEO, BlackSky, said, "We're proud to be selected as a key partner and the highest-resolution optical provider on this program,"our technology's proven, on-orbit performance stands as an essential capability behind the world's first AI-enabled constellation." The first 10 satellites are already in production in Abu Dhabi, with the first satellite scheduled for launch in October. Customers will access the capabilities through an AI application store, where they can select models and run them on the shared satellite infrastructure. Initial applications include maritime domain awareness, wildfire detection, disaster response, and monitoring ports and critical infrastructure.