The United Arab Emirates will establish an $820 million fund to support the development of satellites and its ambitious space program, which has previously launched a probe into Martian orbit and has aspirations to explore Venus.
According to the state-run WAM news agency, the first satellite launch in three years will take place as part of the six-year development program. As part of the UAE Space Agency's Space Economic Zones Program, the fund will promote international collaborations to locate in the nation and offer incentives.
"United Arab Emirates to develop and launch advanced radar satellite constellation under new AED3 billion space sector fund," UAE Media Office mentioned in a tweet.
Applications will include search and rescue, the detection of oil spills, and ship monitoring, Live Mint added.
UAE to Fund Satellites and Space Program
The Arab nation would start a national fund with a capital of $820 million as part of the UAE's space program to create contemporary radar satellites in space, Bloomberg reported.
Mohammed bin Zayed, the ruler of the UAE, explained that the region continues to search for fresh approaches to environmental sustainability and develop its national cadres in this crucial field.
The establishment of a dedicated fund to support the UAE’s burgeoning space programme and the launch of a new initiative to develop radar satellites are expected to expand our growing capabilities in this vital sector while accelerating innovation in environmental sustainability.
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) July 17, 2022
According to the nation's media office, the project would support the UAE's initiatives to find climate change solutions, enhance disaster management, and promote environmental sustainability.
The Boston Globe further reported that the Gulf nation would become the first Arab government to create a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellites due to its decision to support its space program and satellites.
The UAE already boasts the most ambitious space program in the Middle East, with ambitions to send a spacecraft into Martian orbit, go to space, explore Venus in 2029, land on an asteroid, and more.
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UAE's Space Programs
UAE created its space agency in 2014. In addition to planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024, the nation has also dispatched its first astronaut to the International Space Station in 2019.
UAE launched the KhalifaSat in 2018 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. According to Smithsonian Magazine, it is the first satellite from the UAE that was wholly developed, produced, and tested within the nation by Emirati scientists and engineers.
The aforementioned spacecraft, which took five years to build at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), has been awarded five patents and boasts a digital camera that can compete with some of the most cutting-edge remote-sensing observation satellites now in use.
The satellite's camera will take in-depth pictures of the planet to track environmental changes.
The space station established a crew to concentrate on its Hope probe, and UAE is also working on traveling to Mars.
Its official website claimed that the Emirates Mars Mission "Hope Probe" would be the first to present a comprehensive image of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it "reaches the red planet's orbit in 2021."
"Hope Probe" is also expected to help scientists resolve essential issues regarding the overall Martian atmosphere and the escape of hydrogen and oxygen into space over a Martian year.
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