KhalifaSat project enters final phase before lift-off in 2018

Official says project is now 75 per cent complete and that KhalifaSat will be able to send back detailed images from space.

Mohammed Naji Al Hai from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre tests the voltage on a part of the KhalifaSat satellite. Antonie Robertson / The National

DUBAI // The final design of the architectural structure of KhalifaSat has been completed, a space centre official said.

Salem Al Marri, assistant director general of scientific and technical affairs at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, said the project, which is due to launch in 2018, is now 75 per cent complete.

He said the satellite project was now in its final phase and the device’s programmes and systems were now in place ahead of its launch in an H2I rocket built by Mitsubishi.

Dubai Sat-2 has already sent excellent images from space but KhalifaSat is set to be the best satellite in the region for imaging accuracy, The National's Arabic-language sister newspaper, Aletihad, reported.