Celebrating one year of innovation, strategic growth, and leadership in Saudi Arabia’s thriving space industry.
Neo Space Group (NSG), a PIF company and Saudi Arabia’s leading commercial satellite services provider, celebrates its first-year anniversary, marking a year of major milestones and outstanding achievements. These encompass strategic acquisitions, the onboarding of new clients, expanded capabilities through key partnerships, and robust business growth, all within just 12 remarkable months.
Launched by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) on 27 May 2024, NSG has made significant strides toward its mandate of becoming the national champion of the space sector, supporting commercial satellite space operations both locally and internationally. Within its first year, the company expanded its portfolio of services including satellite broadband, Earth observation and sensing, geospatial analysis, satellite navigation and IoT solutions.
Strategic Acquisitions to Boost Capabilities
Key milestones include the acquisition of TAQNIA ETS, a prominent Saudi provider of geospatial services and solutions, which has now been fully integrated and rebranded as NSG Geospatial Services under the NSG umbrella. This acquisition marks a pivotal step in NSG’s strategic transformation, as the company evolves from a purely project-based model to a hybrid approach that combines both high-impact projects and scalable technology products driving innovation, sustainability, and long-term growth.
In addition, NSG acquired UP42, a next-generation Earth observation platform launched by Airbus in 2019. UP42 a pioneer in satellite digital imagery and geospatial data based in Berlin, Germany. Now fully integrated into NSG Geospatial Services, this acquisition grants NSG access to over 140 Earth observation data collections on a single platform, making it easier to source and analyze diverse geospatial insights from multiple providers via a seamless interface.
NSG has also entered into a collaboration agreement with ESRI, the global market leader in geographic information systems (GIS) mapping, and location intelligence. Additionally, NSG partnered with SuperMap Software to further enhance its GIS capabilities and technology offerings.
Broadening Services Through Partnerships
Through its partnership with global satellite communications provider SES, NSG has introduced the SES Open Orbits™ Inflight Connectivity network to international airlines, NSG also formed a strategic partnership with G&S SatCom, a leading satellite solutions company, to deploy G&S SatConnect®, a cutting-edge, cloud-based, real-time monitoring platform. This technology supports NSG’s Network Operations Centre (NOC), ensuring 24/7 service monitoring and proactive management of in-flight connectivity (IFC) services.
New Clients Onboarded
In its first year, NSG secured three major international clients for its market-leading satellite-based inflight connectivity services: Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Uzbekistan Airways. These airlines now offer seamless high-speed internet and personalized passenger experience powered by NSG technology.
Martijn Blanken, CEO of Neo Space Group, commented: “I´m incredibly proud of the progress we have made in our first year, and the steps we’ve taken to become a national space champion. I would like to thank all the hard-working NSG employees for their dedication and efforts in our launch year, as well as the trust and support of PIF. At NSG we are truly honored to be shaping the future of commercial space operations in Saudi Arabia, while delivering innovative satellite solutions locally and globally.”
Commitment to Innovation and Talent Development in line with Vision 2030
This year, NSG became an official member of the prestigious King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Industry Collaboration Program (KICP)the first company in the space sector to do so. This milestone reinforces NSG’s commitment to innovation and research, aligned with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. As the national Space Champion, NSG also proudly sponsored the ‘Spring’ and the ‘Core Forum of Space and Astronomy’ workshops, organized by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. NSG was further represented at KAUST Employment Day as part of its talent outreach efforts.
Recognition and Awards
NSG was awarded a permit by the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) of Saudi Arabia to provide Earth Observation (EO) platform services. Most recently, NSG won the Best Next Generation Satellite Application Award for its inflight connectivity solution at the BroadcastPro ME/SatellitePro ME Manufacturer Awards 2025.
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