Two new ground satellite stations will be built out in the desert

ABU DHABI // Two satellite tracking ground stations are to be built in the desert next year to service the UAE's first satellite communication systems. One of the sites is about 40km from the city centre of Abu Dhabi, while the other is located near Al Ain. Combined, the sites will cover 15,000 square metres and house technical and administrative buildings, and large antennae to keep track of the satellites, reports Clarke Bond, the British engineering and management consultancy company appointed as the project manager. The UAE's first satellite communications system is due to launch in two years, with another soon after. "This is a major project with enormous significance for the UAE, which must be delivered on time," said David Harding, the chief executive of Clarke Bond. The company behind the satellite project is Al Yah Satellite Communications (YahSat). It was set up by Mubadala Development Company, the Abu Dhabi Government investment company, last year. Mubadala reportedly raised Dh4.4 billion (US$1.2bn) to fund the two satellites. The first satellite, YahSat 1A, is to be built in Europe and is expected to launch from Kazakhstan in the last quarter of 2010. It will provide the region with voice, data, video and internet connectivity, as well as secure military satellite communications. The second satellite, YahSat 1B, is due to be launched in the first half of 2011. YahSat, the first nationally owned satellite communications company, confirmed in August that it already had two major customers: the UAE Armed Forces and Emerging Market Communications (EMC), a US company that specialises in servicing crisis zones and emerging markets. The company is looking to attract more customers from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South-West Asia. Draft designs for the ground stations have already been completed, with more detailed plans in progress. The structures will need to be able to withstand frequent sand storms and ground temperatures of more than 60°C. "There are enormous challenges associated with any form of construction in the desert," said Mr Harding. "Let alone satellite tracking stations which will house delicate high-tech instrumentation under highly secure conditions." newsdesk@thenational.ae

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.