The Abu Dhabi-backed space enterprise Virgin Galactic is already looking beyond space tourism and is considering offering point-to-point space travel as a means of drastically reducing long-haul travel times, according to the chief executive George Whitesides.
Mr Whitesides said that the company, which is part-owned by Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investment, is studying a series of concepts that will slash travel times by offering space flights from spaceports.
“It’s very interesting that the global aerospace industry has not created a Mach 3-5 transport,” he said yesterday on the sidelines of the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi.
“I really think that that’s the iceberg, if the tip is our initial group of human space flight customers.”
Point-to-point flights between a series of global spaceports, such as Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport 1 in New Mexico and a proposed spaceport in Abu Dhabi, could provide the long-haul backbone of a high speed global transport network, he said.
“To go from Los Angeles to here took me about 20 hours yesterday. Would I take an hour and a half journey from LA to New Mexico if it then allowed me to take a two-hour journey to Abu Dhabi? A sane person would as long as the price and the safety are in place.”
Ideally such a service would be priced to be within range of a long- haul first-class plane ticket or the lease of a private jet, he said.
Such a service was still some way off, he admitted, with several years required to develop both a vehicle for such a service and a wider network of spaceports.
Virgin Galactic’s founder Sir Richard Branson said in February that the company planned to build a spaceport in Abu Dhabi by 2016.
The project was still reliant on approvals from the US and UAE regulators, said Mr Whitesides.
Discussions with regulatory authorities were continuing, he said, declining to give further specifics as to when such approvals were expected.
“Commercial space is an area of focus for the US government. The possibility of non-US customers for US aerospace products is obviously a priority and so we are getting positive attention within the US government around these concepts.”
Virgin Galactic is still on track to offer its first commercial space flight later this year, with celebrities such as Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Tom Hanks among a host of celebrities paying US$250,000 for the privilege.
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The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
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The biog
Date of birth: 27 May, 1995
Place of birth: Dubai, UAE
Status: Single
School: Al Ittihad private school in Al Mamzar
University: University of Sharjah
Degree: Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Hobby: I enjoy travelling a lot, not just for fun, but I like to cross things off my bucket list and the map and do something there like a 'green project'.
School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
