UAE space chief: space exploration is 'ignition' to boost economy

Sarah Al Amiri says the programme can lead to many economic opportunities

The first image of Mars as taken by the UAE's Hope probe, which arrived at the planet on February 9.

This image taken by the Hope probe's ultraviolet spectrometer (one of its three scientific instruments) shows sunlight reflecting off the extended cloud of atomic hydrogen gas that surrounds the planet Mars. The sunlight is visible only as a dark disk hidden inside the fog of gas. The Emirates Mars Mission team said that no other mission have made such kind of recordings before.

The UAE's Hope probe captured a high-resolution photo of Mars.

The Hope probe has shared new images from its journey in the orbit of Mars.

This image was taken by the infrared spectrometer, another instrument on the Hope probe, from an altitude of about 15,000 kilometres. The image shows the surface temperature (left), centred on the Tharsis region of Mars. Dawn can be seen towards the right side. The low surface temperatures observed are due to the dusty nature of the Martian surface. An elevated nighttime atmospheric temperature at 25 km altitude (right) is also observed over the Tharsis region.

These images were captured by the eXploration imager, a high-resolution camera on the Hope probe. The red channel clearly shows the dark and light features of the Martian surface, while the water ice clouds stand out in the ultraviolet channel.

Hope probe sent back an image of the Cerberus Fossae, an area on the planet known for 'Marsquakes'.

Surface and atmospheric temperature readings collected by the UAE's Hope probe.

Discrete aurora on Mars captured by UAE's Hope probe

Discrete aurora on Mars captured by UAE's Hope probe

Space exploration is the ignition that can boost the economy and help diversification, the UAE’s space chief has said.

Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said the programme can not only create a private sector within the space field but also lead to many more economic opportunities.

Speaking on Wednesday, she said space missions were assessed according to many criteria and commercial viability was an important one.

“Our mission today at the space agency is marrying exploration missions together with commercially viable data sets, products and services, developing smaller satellites that have commercial value and are able to provide us with data that feeds into different sectors and creates this necessary ripple effect,” she said, at the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Sarah Al Amiri, the Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency. Pawan Singh / The National

“An interesting lesson learned is that exploration is that ignition that you give towards your economic diversification and the stimulation of your space economy and the private sector within the space sector, and then everything else then is able to indirectly feed off of that."

The UAE does have satellites in low-Earth orbit that produce data commercially for private companies all over the world.

KhalifaSat, the first Emirati-built satellite, is partly being used to boost the commercial space sector.

The UAE is also looking to have commercial payloads on its second Moon rover.

Salem Al Marri, the deputy director-general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, said some companies and research institutions are willing to contribute financially to the country’s second lunar mission.

“In the next mission, we do see interest from commercial players and from start-up companies in the UAE that we want to support and endorse,” he said.

“We want our next and future rovers to be used as platforms by start-up companies, universities [and] commercial players to test their ideas, to implement them.”

During the first lunar mission, the UAE is carrying a few payloads from foreign space agencies, but they are non-commercial.

In an earlier exclusive interview with The National, Ms Al Amiri highlighted the agency’s efforts in increasing private sector investment in the country’s growing space industry.

She said the aim is to make the UAE a regional hub for the development of spacecraft systems.

“Most of the current space sector within the Emirates is focused on government spending and programmes across both local and federal governments,” she said.

"Today, we're talking about a space sector that has an indirect impact on the economy. In five years, we want to see a space sector that has both an indirect impact on the economy, society, and also a direct impact on the economy."

UAE's lunar mission - in pictures

An artist's impression of the UAE's lunar rover called Rashid.

Dr Hamad Al Marzooqi, project manager of the Emirates Lunar Mission at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. Chris Whiteoak / The National

An artist's impression of iSpace's Hakuto-Reboot lunar lander. It will carry UAE's Rashid rover to the surface of the Moon in 2022.

The UAE aims to land the Rashid rover on the near side of the Moon due to its smoother surface.

The far side of the Moon remains largely unexplored, but Nasa is turning its focus back to the lunar surface.

The HAKUTO-R lander, which will deliver the UAE's Rashid rover to the lunar surface in 2022, is now in final stages of assembly.

The ispace team completed the assembly of the lander's structure thermal model in April. Courtesy: ispace

The final assembly of the lander is being carried out in co-operation with the Ariane Group GmbH at the Ariane Group facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany. Courtesy: ispace

Using a lander and rocket that is already available helps Emirati engineers and scientists get quicker and easier access to space. Courtesy: ispace

The initial concept design of the Rashid rover. Courtesy: MBRSC

Rashid rover's thermal imager will analyse the Moon's properties through thermal energy. Courtesy: MBRSC

The Langmuir probes on the rover will analyse the lunar surface charge and electric fields. Courtesy: MBRSC

One of the rover's two high-resolution optical imagers that will take photos of the Moon. Courtesy: MBRSC