BADR-7 (ARABSAT-6B)

BADR-7, catalogued by NORAD under identifier 41029 and carrying the international designator 2015-065B, is a geostationary communications satellite operated under the authority of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Launched on 9 November 2015, the spacecraft operates as part of the broader Arabsat fleet, a regional satellite communications network serving the Arab world. It is also referred to as ARABSAT-6B and commonly written as BADR 7, reflecting its place within a long-running series of spacecraft bearing the BADR designation. As of the time of writing, BADR-7 remains in orbit and continues to occupy a slot in the geostationary belt.

Mission and Purpose

BADR-7 is formally classified as a communications payload, though the specific details of its operational mission profile are not publicly recorded in the standard satellite catalog. What is clear from its operator affiliation and orbital position is that it fits within the overarching mandate of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization, commonly known as Arabsat — a regional intergovernmental body headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that was established to provide satellite-based telecommunications services to Arab member states in accordance with international standards.

Arabsat operates as one of the primary satellite communications infrastructures across the Arab world, with a membership spanning 21 countries. The organization was founded with the explicit goal of enhancing connectivity — both public and private — across a geographically vast and diverse region where terrestrial infrastructure has historically faced significant challenges. Satellites in the BADR series have traditionally served as major distribution platforms for television broadcasting, broadband connectivity, and governmental communications across the Middle East and North Africa.

The BADR name itself has deep historical roots in the Arabsat program. Earlier BADR satellites established a widely-used orbital neighborhood that attracted a large concentration of satellite dishes across the Arab-speaking world, making the orbital position associated with this series one of the most recognized broadcasting locations in the region. BADR-7's role as ARABSAT-6B places it within the sixth generation of Arabsat spacecraft, a generation intended to expand capacity and modernize service delivery relative to earlier platforms.

Because the satellite's specific mission parameters — including its exact service coverage, transponder configuration, and the nature of the traffic it carries — are not captured in the publicly available catalog data, precise characterizations of its commercial or governmental role cannot be stated with certainty. What can be noted is that the KACST designation as operator reflects Saudi Arabia's institutional stake in the satellite and its place within the kingdom's broader strategy of leveraging space-based infrastructure for national and regional development.

Orbit and Tracking

BADR-7 occupies a near-perfect geostationary orbit, one of the most operationally stable and strategically significant orbital regimes available to communications satellites. Its tracked apogee stands at 35,806 kilometers and its perigee at 35,782 kilometers, a difference of just 24 kilometers that indicates an exceptionally circular orbit with very low eccentricity. This tight orbital geometry is a hallmark of well-maintained geostationary spacecraft, where station-keeping maneuvers are regularly performed to counteract the gravitational influences of the Moon, Sun, and Earth's equatorial bulge.

The satellite's inclination is recorded at 0.0 degrees, meaning it flies almost perfectly along the plane of Earth's equator. This is the defining characteristic of a true geostationary orbit: by combining near-zero inclination with an altitude that produces an orbital period matching Earth's rotation rate, the satellite appears essentially stationary when viewed from the ground. BADR-7's orbital period of 1,436.1 minutes — approximately 23 hours and 56 minutes — aligns closely with one sidereal day, confirming its geostationary classification.

From a tracking perspective, geostationary satellites like BADR-7 behave quite differently from satellites in lower orbits. They do not pass across the sky in the way that low Earth orbit objects do. Instead, they appear fixed at a single point above the equator, which is precisely what makes them so valuable for communications applications: a ground antenna, once pointed correctly, does not need to track a moving target. For satellite-tracking databases and tools, geostationary objects are still assigned NORAD catalog entries and two-line element sets, which are periodically updated to reflect any drift or station-keeping adjustments. BADR-7's catalog number, 41029, allows it to be located and monitored within standard tracking systems.

Because the geostationary belt sits at an altitude of roughly 35,786 kilometers above the equator, satellites in this regime are visible from a very large portion of Earth's surface simultaneously. BADR-7, positioned above the equator, has a line-of-sight footprint that can theoretically cover a broad arc of the Eastern Hemisphere, though its actual service coverage depends on the antenna configurations aboard the spacecraft — details not available in the public catalog record.

Design and Operator

The satellite's manufacturer is not recorded in the available catalog data, and its mass at launch is likewise not publicly noted in standard tracking sources. This limits what can be said with confidence about the spacecraft's physical design. Communications satellites of the class and era to which BADR-7 belongs are generally built around flight-proven bus platforms supplied by a small number of major aerospace manufacturers, but without confirmed attribution, no specific design details can responsibly be stated here.

The operator on record is KACST — the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology — a Saudi Arabian government body that functions as the kingdom's primary science and technology institution and has historically managed a range of space-related programs on behalf of the state. Saudi Arabia, as the owning country, holds responsibility for the satellite under international space law frameworks, including the registration obligations set out by the United Nations. The satellite was registered under the designator 2015-065B, consistent with a launch that occurred in November 2015 and indicating it was the second tracked object from that launch event.

Arabsat, while not listed as the formal operator in the NORAD catalog entry, is the organizational body most publicly associated with the BADR series and the ARABSAT-6B designation that BADR-7 also carries. The relationship between KACST and Arabsat in the management of this satellite reflects a broader pattern in which governmental and intergovernmental bodies in the Arab world coordinate their space activities through overlapping institutional structures.

Current Status and Significance

BADR-7 was launched in November 2015 and, as of the current catalog data, remains in orbit with no recorded decay or reentry date. Its continued presence in the geostationary belt is consistent with the typical operational lifespans of commercial communications satellites, which are generally designed to remain functional for fifteen years or more, supported by on-board propellant reserves used for station-keeping and attitude control throughout their service lives.

The satellite's mission status is not defined in the publicly available catalog, meaning it is not possible to confirm from tracking data alone whether the spacecraft is currently active, operating in a reduced capacity, or has been retired to a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt. Satellites that have exhausted their propellant and ended active operations are typically raised into a slightly higher disposal orbit to clear the geostationary arc for future operators, a practice mandated by international guidelines. However, there is no catalog indication that BADR-7 has undergone such a maneuver.

Within the broader context of regional space development, the BADR series represents a sustained, decades-long commitment by the Arab world to establish and maintain independent satellite communications capacity. The infrastructure built around these orbital positions has shaped how hundreds of millions of people across the Middle East and North Africa access broadcasting, internet services, and telecommunications. BADR-7's place in that history, as part of the sixth-generation Arabsat fleet, reflects the continued evolution and modernization of that regional capability. Saudi Arabia's role as owner of the satellite also underscores the kingdom's longstanding position as one of the leading investors in space-based infrastructure among Arab states, a position that has only grown more prominent in subsequent years as the country has expanded its national space ambitions through dedicated agencies and programs.

For researchers, satellite enthusiasts, and telecommunications professionals tracking the geostationary belt, BADR-7 serves as a reference point in a densely populated and strategically important segment of orbital real estate — the arc above the Eastern Hemisphere that has become one of the most commercially and geopolitically significant stretches of the geostationary ring.