The United Arab Emirates, on Sunday, July 17, announced a 3 billion UAE dirham ($816.84 million) fund to help support the establishment of national companies in the space sector, support new national strategic and research projects, and develop the capabilities of our Emirati engineering cadres in space technology.
The fund was announced by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on his official Twitter handle.
بتأسيس صندوق وطني لدعم قطاع الفضاء برأس مال ثلاثة مليارات درهم وإطلاق برنامج وطني لتطوير الأقمار الاصطناعية الرادارية الحديثة "سرب".. الإمارات تواصل العمل على إيجاد حلول مبتكرة للاستدامة البيئية وتأهيل كوادرها الوطنية في هذا القطاع الحيوي.
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) July 17, 2022
Earlier, in 2014, the UAE made a space agency, and five years later, it launched its first astronaut to the ISS (International Space Station) and had plans to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to the moon by 2024.
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said that the fund strives to encourage the making of domestic enterprises in the space sector and boost domestic strategic and research projects.
كما أطلقت الإمارات اليوم صندوق الفضاء برأس مال ٣ مليار درهم، وهدفه دعم تأسيس شركات وطنية في قطاع الفضاء، ودعم المشاريع الاستراتيجية الوطنية والبحثية الجديدة، وتطوير قدرات كوادرنا الهندسية الإماراتية في تكنولوجيا الفضاء، فقط بالعلوم المتقدمة نستطيع المساهمة في مسيرة التطور البشري
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) July 17, 2022
With this fund, it will become the first Arab country to make a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. The Emirates already brags the most ambitious space programme in the Middle East, with the aim to send a spacecraft into Martian orbit, explore Venus in the coming seven years and land on an asteroid.
The fund will also help a large-scale space programme that has earlier launched a spacecraft into Martian orbit and has exploration purposes for Venus.
As per the UAE Ruler Mohamed bin Zayed, the initiative will include the beginning of a national programme for making contemporary radar satellites and the launch of a national fund with a capital of over three billion dirhams. The satellites will provide year-round, all-weather pictures of the world.
Applications will include search as well as rescue along with the detection of oil spills and ship monitoring.
Earlier, it was also said that the project would contribute to the UAE’s efforts in developing solutions to climate change, environmental stability as well as improved disaster management.