Today's Edition
AMNA AL KETBI (DUBAI)
The UAE continues to showcase its leadership in space projects and standing on the international stage as the country plans to launch three new satellites into space this year, including the Mohamed bin Zayed SAT (MBZ-SAT), Thuraya 4, and the satellite 813.
These projects, which align with plans to build a sustainable space sector, are a manifestation of the UAE’s vision to place the Arab region on the map within the space industry through technoloically advanced projects that serve humanity, positioning the country as a major player in the space race while developing Emirati talents through global and local partnerships.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is preparing to launch the MBZ-SAT, its largest satellite in the centre’s history and the most advanced in the region in terms of high-resolution satellite imaging, during the first half of this year.
The satellite, designed and manufactured by engineers at the MBRSC, also involves contributions from the UAE private sector, which provided raw materials such as aluminium and cables.
The MBZ-SAT boasts advanced image capture technologies that will contribute to sustainable urban planning, environmental change monitoring, predicting natural weather phenomena, and monitoring water quality and agricultural development.
The Thuraya 4 satellite, which is set to be launched by Yahsat at the end of the first half of 2024, will play a crucial role in providing customers with advanced and cost-effective satellite communication solutions with enhanced performance, reliability, and security. This launch introduces a new generation of satellite communications, involving comprehensive improvement and development of all ground and space platforms, enabling a new range of services, products, and solutions across a broader coverage area.
The satellite is also part of a new generation of mobile communication systems that will support the continuity of Thuraya services in the L-band frequency, working to increase satellite capacity, expanding coverage across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and enabling a new era of satellite communication solutions for all customers, including the public, defence, institutional, and commercial sectors.
The 813 satellite, which incorporates modern electronic systems like satellite communication systems that convert radio systems into satellite systems, including data transmission devices on satellites for various systems, such as ships, aircraft, cars, or machinery, to provide Internet and various data services to users, is set to be launched at the end of 2024. The 813 satellite project is funded by the UAE Space Agency and is developed by Arab engineers within the state-of-the-art facilities of the National Centre for Space Science and Technology (NSSTC), including 15 engineers from the UAE and 14 engineers from other Arab countries.
The satellite will be assembled and monitored after it is launched by the NSSTC, the first space research centre in the Middle East, which houses three ground stations that provide data to the Arab countries participating in the project.
The satellite will monitor the Earth to measure enviornmental data points in several Arab countries, including vegetation cover, soil types, minerals, water sources, as well as measuring greenhouse gases, air pollution, and dust, to support development plans.
Scientifically, the project will help map environmental features, monitor and archive natural phenomena and natural resources, study land cover dynamics, and identify crop conditions while predicting quality and production quantities.
It will also identify groundwater types and distribution, monitor land erosion and soil pollution due to climate change, identify mining sites, enhance geological exploration, and detect rare earth metals and essential minerals.
Led by the UAE, Project 813 is the first collaborative space project among Arab countries, and was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as a gift to the Arab Space Cooperation Group during the Global Space Congress on the occasion of the signing of the charter of the Arab Space Cooperation Group. The project represents genuine support from the UAE’s visionary leadership, consolidating Arab efforts in space exploration.
The satellite’s name refers to the historical period starting from the year 813 that witnessed the flourishing of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad during the reign of Al-Ma’mun, also known as Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid, and symbolises a flourishing period in which the region hosted scholars, translated prominent texts, and produced works of scientific progress.
