Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud

Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud is a Saudi aerospace engineer who headed the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the national science agency that builds and operates Saudi Arabia's satellites, from 2015 to 2021. In December 2018 he was made an adviser to the Saudi Royal Court with the rank of minister, and he sits on the board of the Saudi Space Commission. Companies House lists him as director and 75 percent or greater owner of three UK companies in fusion research, launch systems and communications equipment.¹²³⁴

Name

The royal order of December 27, 2018 gives the name as "Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud."² The Saudi Space Commission lists him as "H.H. Dr. Turki Saud Mohammad AL Saud," and the KACST release of April 2015 gives "Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud."³⁵ The Companies House officer records read "Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD," with the style "H.H. Prince."⁴

His father was Saud bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a poet and a member of the line of Saud bin Faisal bin Turki Al Saud. The Royal Court announced his death on December 29, 2015 (18 Rabi al-Thani 1437), with prayers at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh.⁶⁷ He is a different man from Turki bin Saud Al Kabeer, and from Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud, who became a minister of state in the same royal orders of December 27, 2018.²

Education and KACST career

He holds a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. In 1997 he joined KACST as director of the newly established Space Research Institute, and in 2004 he became its vice president for research institutes. He chaired the KACST scientific council.⁸

He took over as president of KACST in the first days of February 2015 (his appointment is dated January 29, 2015), after Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, the previous president, was named minister of communications and information technology.⁸⁹ Munir El-Desouki was appointed president by royal decree on April 19, 2021.¹⁰

Alongside the presidency he chaired the supervisory committee of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan, the supervisory committee of the King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water Desalination, and the board of Taqnia (the Technology Development and Investment Company), and he served on the advisory council of the Stanford School of Engineering.⁸

Satellites and foreign partners

On April 28, 2015, Arabsat and KACST announced contracts for Lockheed Martin to build two A2100 communications satellites, Arabsat 6A and Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1, with a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and TAQNIA Space Company in which KACST was the technology partner. The release quotes him: "KACST will elevate local satellite technologies competency through the Joint Venture with Lockheed Martin and TAQNIA Space Company."⁵ Lockheed Martin reported a production milestone for both satellites on May 31, 2016, and SaudiGeoSat-1/Hellas-Sat-4 launched on February 5, 2019.¹¹

In May 2018 a KACST optical camera flew on the Longjiang-2 microsatellite, which launched with the Chang'e-4 lunar relay satellite from China; it returned images of the Earth and the Moon from lunar orbit.¹²

Royal Court and Space Commission

The royal orders of December 27, 2018 appointed him an adviser at the Royal Court with the rank of minister, in the same set of orders that reconstituted the Council of Ministers.² The Saudi Space Commission, which was established in December 2018 with Abdullah Al-Swaha as chairman, lists him as a board member beside Al-Swaha and Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel.³

Family

Al-Jazirah published a biography of Saud bin Mohammed on January 22, 2016, which names more than thirty children and lists among his sons "Prince Dr. Turki, president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology" and "Prince Dr. Colonel Paratrooper (Badr)," then of the special force for the security of the Grand Mosque, whose mother was Princess Al-Anoud bint Abdullah Al-Furm. The same list names Abdulaziz "al-Samer" and Dr. Saad "al-Munadi," both poets.⁶

Bader is Bader bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud, whose son is Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, the founder of Echelon (company). Turki is Khalid's paternal uncle.⁶

UK companies

Companies House records three private limited companies sharing a registered office in Northamptonshire. Each lists Turki as a director appointed on August 13, 2026, with Saudi Arabian nationality, residence in Saudi Arabia, and a date of birth of October 1957; a corporate service provider (Higgins Fairbairn & Co) is recorded as having verified his identity on November 25, 2025.⁴ A biographical aggregator gives his date of birth as October 3, 1953.¹³

Pulsed Fusion Energy Ltd (company 15717442) was incorporated on May 13, 2024 as ROBOT XI LIMITED and took its present name on November 12, 2024. Its business code is 72190, other research and experimental development in natural sciences and engineering. European Launch System Ltd (15727737) was incorporated on May 18, 2024, and Solid Orbit Ltd (15755615) on June 2, 2024; both carry code 26309, manufacture of communication equipment. Each register lists Turki as the one person with significant control since the day of incorporation, with 75 percent or more of the shares and voting rights and the right to appoint and remove directors.⁴

The other director of each company is Simon Evans (born June 1958, British), appointed on the incorporation date of the company; Solid Orbit has a third director, Daniel Malcolm Jubb (born February 1984, British), appointed on September 9, 2026.⁴