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The UAE is financing the local production of a new satellite for a joint Arab space group that is set to expand further this year, the director general of UAE Space Agency said.
“We are working on a number of initiatives, of which the most important is the establishment of Arab Space Cooperation Group,” Dr Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General, UAE Space Agency told Zawya at a forum in Abu Dhabi.
“There are 11 countries [in] the group, which consists of space agencies, institutions, and centers. There are more countries that want to join this year, and this is a major initiative for UAE, [for] which it is trying to expand its knowledge and capability in the region.”
“The UAE is fully financing this satellite, which will be developed here in one of the research centers in a university in Al Ain. The UAE will also host Arab scientists and engineers to help building the satellite,” he added.
Al Ahbabi said that the satellite has two key objectives: One is to act as a platform for Arabs to work together. Second, when it is launched, it will provide services to the Arab people to enable more efficient utilization of natural resources such as by identifying where to do farming. It’ll also help measure environment variables and support urban planning.
On when the satellite will be fully launched, he said: “It will typically take between three and four years. I think it’ll be within that range for a good large satellite to be operational,”
The UAE in September sent Hazza Al Mansoori, an Emirati fighter pilot and the country’s first astronaut on a space mission that made him the first Arab to set foot on the International Space Station.
“Young people in the UAE are now very excited about space, especially after the country’s first astronaut mission. We are looking for space to inspire youth and to give them direction,” Al Ahbabi said.
And there are more plans for the less-immediate future.
The UAE Space Agency has been mandated by the government to set the right regulations for the space sector and has been tasked with oversight and funding of Mars mission as well, Al Ahbabi noted.
The UAE is set to launch Emirates Mars Mission (EMM)’s Hope Probe, the first Arab project to explore another planet, in the second half of 2020.
(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; editing by Seban Scaria)
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