The Arab space industry entered a new frontier yesterday as Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the executive construction phase of the Khalifa Sat, the first satellite to be fully built and manufactured by the UAE. The satellite is scheduled to be launched into orbit by 2017. The move catapults the Arab region into a new era of space industry and competition in space sciences.
The official launch was held on location in Dubai yesterday at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), where the next phase of construction will commence. Sheikh Mohammed dedicated the new ambitious scientific achievement to his brother, UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and went on to say “Khalifa Sat is a message to all Arabs that Arab ushering into the space era is neither out of reach nor impossible and our state will be a leader in this industry as long as we have the confidence and courage to enter into competition with major countries in this field.”
A national team of forty-five Emirati engineers will build the Khalifa Sat. In order for EIAST to achieve its goal of using space technologies and applications effectively, the institution has pursued four programs: research and development of outer space, satellite manufacturing and system development, Earth observation from satellite images, and ground station services and support to other satellites.
“Our history says Arab and Muslim scientists offered the world many achievements and we still believe that the same creative spirit flow in their children,” concluded Sheikh Mohammed.
