On July 18, the United Arab Emirates announced that it will set up a special fund totaling about 3 billion dirhams (about 820 million US dollars, 5.52 billion yuan) to develop satellites and finance space programs.
The UAE’s six-year space development program will reportedly launch satellites and explore Venus for the first time in three years. The UAE’s previous launch of a probe to Mars orbit was also part of the plan. A dedicated fund has also been created to encourage global partnerships in the UAE on space development programmes.
Mohamed bin Zayed, the new president of the UAE, tweeted, “A special fund will be established to support the UAE’s thriving space program, and a new initiative to develop radar satellites will be launched, which is expected to continue to expand our presence in this critical area. capabilities in the field, while accelerating innovation in environmental sustainability.”
The UAE Media Office said: “This project will help the UAE develop solutions to combat climate change, environmental sustainability and enhanced disaster management. Applications will include oil spill detection, ship monitoring and search and rescue.”
The UAE said the move would make it the first Arab country to develop a synthetic aperture radar satellite network. The UAE Media Office said the satellites will be named Sirb, which means “flock of birds” in Arabic. The UAE will build satellites through a partnership between the public and private sectors and international companies.
The UAE plans to explore Venus, land on asteroids within seven years and has already sent spacecraft to Mars orbit.
The UAE established its space agency in 2014, sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station five years later, and plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024.
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