FRANKFURT, June 10 — Airbus announced today that it has secured a contract from UAE satellite services provider Yahsat to design and build new geostationary telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5, as reported by German news agency dpa.

The deal, signed with Airbus Defence and Space, includes the provision of ground control components.

Both spacecraft will have a design life of 15 years and are planned to be launched in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Airbus said in a statement: "Both AY4 and AY5 satellites will offer secure governmental communications over a wide geographical area across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. The new advanced satellites will eventually replace Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2, which were launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and based on a previous version of the Airbus-built Eurostar platform.” — Bernama-dpa