Space and time

It may sound starry-eyed, but the final frontier really is about the limits of discovery

Masood Sharif Mahmood, the CEO of Yahsat, speaks at Milsatcom. Ravindranath K / The National

The UAE believes that space is a market, a sector for development and crucial for national security. That’s what the Milsatcom Middle East Conference heard from Dr Mohammed Al Ahbabi, head of the UAE space agency, which is driving innovation in satellite technology. He is right and it is a fact that this country has, in a relatively short space of time, developed the sector into the region’s largest, with direct investment of Dh18 billion. But there is another aspect of space that neither the conference (which ends today) nor Dr Al Ahbabi can address. It sounds a bit too starry-eyed but it is valid nonethess.

Curiosity. It’s impossible to do a cost-benefit analysis but voyages of discovery are part of what makes us human. Simply, space exploration projects cannot be measured in fiscal terms alone. Research and development programmes associated with space bring with them a host of benefits, many of them intangible, including inspiring future generations and nation-building.