Visiting Chinese billionaire pledges US $ 30mn investment in SupremeSAT

Xiaoru Cai, a Forbes-listed young billionaire of mainland China, has signed the partnership agreement and committed to invest US $ 30 million into SupremeSAT, the Sri Lankan satellite company, through his Shenzen-listed company, Tatwah Smartech.

The agreement signing was concluded in Colombo paving the way for Sri Lanka’s only satellite company to go global using the expertise and resources of the new-found investment, SupremeSAT said in a press release. 

“Tatwah is evolving as a globally strong player in the satellite communications industry. I am very pleased to see the remarkable growth SupremeSAT has achieved within a very short span of time, competing against many strong global brands. 

I am confident that this partnership will bring more value of Tatwah’s resources and redefine the capabilities of SupremeSAT to further grow in all areas of its operations,” Smartech Co. Ltd Chairman Xiaoru Cai was quoted as saying in the press release. 

“As a private company hailing from a small island nation, SupremeSAT has proven to the world that the company has become a formidable player in the global space industry. Having established the long-term strategies and infrastructure to expand the company’s business, we expect to accelerate our growth by way of selected acquisitions worldwide,” Supreme Global Holdings Chairman R.M. Manivannan stated in the press release.

“Five years ago, we vowed to take Sri Lanka to the next level of technology and we have walked the talk. Our concentration was on making Sri Lanka a formidable player in the global space industry and today we are taking another giant step towards that,” he added. The new strategic partnership will focus on growing SupremeSAT’s existing activities in Sri Lanka whilst also concentrating on large-scale expansion globally with the combination of synergies.

The SupremeSAT-3 Capacity, created by SupremeSAT in partnership with Intelsat SA, has given the company a long-term contract with Sri Lanka’s Dialog TV, thus providing over 90 percent of the local market share. The company is hence concentrating on growth globally for further expansion.

“During an era where even countries were finding it difficult to launch a satellite, we, as a Sri Lankan private company, achieved that goal and we did not stop there. We continued building the state-of-the-art space port located in Pallekele, Kandy, which not only provides satellite control services but also has now commenced building of small satellites and will soon become the region’s best satellite control centre, controlling many satellites of the world,” Manivannan had stated. SupremeSAT’s Pallekele satellite control centre is also called South Asia Space Academy, where the company has invested heavily on space-related research, development and training. Many young Sri Lankan scientists work tirelessly days and nights to make Kandy the ‘knowledge hub’ of Sri Lanka. 

Having gained the space business expertise with the launch of SupremeSAT-1, the company further expanded aggressively creating the SupremeSAT-3 capacity and also completing the construction of its teleport in Pallekele.   SupremeSAT has now secured many globally reputed companies as its long-term customers, making Sri Lanka a formidable player in the satellite industry.

The company is steadily progressing on many innovative initiatives including the building of Sri Lanka’s first humanoid robot named ‘Shakthe’, building of small satellites within its newly built ‘Clean Room’, etc. 

The existing activities of the company are supported by many global companies. Japan’s NEC and Sweden’s Swedish Space Corporation are already cooperating with SupremeSAT’s ground control activities. The satellite control centre functions in partnership with a US company whilst satellite manufacturing is supported by a European company.