The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, announced on Sunday, the establishment of a national fund to support space, and the launch of the first project to develop a swarm of radar satellites.
Bin Zayed said on his Twitter account that “a national fund has been established to support the space sector, with a capital of three billion dirhams ($816 million),” adding that “Swarm”, a “national program for the development of modern radar satellites,” was also launched.”
He explained that “the purpose of establishing the fund and launching a squadron is for the UAE to continue working on finding innovative solutions for environmental sustainability and qualifying its national cadres in this vital sector.”
In turn, the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, said in tweets on his account on the Twitter platform, “The Sarb project is the first project to develop a swarm of radar satellites that use modern imaging technology, day and night, in all weather conditions, with an accuracy of one meter.”
He pointed out that “the new satellite swarm aims to develop our competitiveness in the space sector and preserve the environment from the factors of climate change.”
He further pointed out that the Space Fund “aims to support the establishment of national companies in the space sector, and to support new national strategic and research projects.”
He also indicated that the fund also aims to “develop the capabilities of our Emirati engineering cadres in space technology,” stressing: “Only with advanced science can we contribute to the march of human development.”
It is worth noting that the UAE has made great leaps in the field of space, the last of which was on July 4, when the first Emirati mission to simulate space ended at a ground base in Russia, after scientific experiments that lasted 8 months.
The Emirati astronaut, Saleh Al-Amiri, left the isolation capsule within the “Sirius 21” mission, successfully ending 8 months spent with the mission team, consisting of 6 American and Russian astronauts, in the ground experimental complex in Russia.
In June 2022, the UAE won the presidency of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COBOS), one of the largest committees at the United Nations, which includes 100 countries in its membership.
Imran Anwar Sharaf, Director of the Emirates Mars Exploration Project, will serve as Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COBOS), for a period of two years 2022-2023.
