ABU DHABI, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - A company owned by the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday awarded a European consortium a 1.66 billion dollar contract to build and launch two satellites.

Yahsat said in a statement it awarded the deal to European aerospace giant EADS and Thales Alenia, which aim to launch the satellites in the second half of 2010.

'The Yahsat satellites will fulfil the satellite requirements of both government and commercial customers in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South West Asia,' the statement said.