Oman's first satellite ready for launch from UK spaceport

Aman CubeSat is to be used for environmental surveillance

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket will carry the CubeSat into low Earth orbit. Getty

Oman’s first satellite is ready to be launched from Cornwall, south-western UK.

Aman, a CubeSat that is to be used for environmental surveillance, is expected to enter low Earth orbit after it blasts off from Spaceport Cornwall this month.

The satellite was this week integrated with a spacecraft during work led by Virgin Orbit. The company's LauncherOne rocket will carry the device into orbit.

It included the final cleaning and checks of the satellite to prepare it for launch.

“Satellite integration marks an important milestone in the plan to send the first Omani spacecraft into space this year," Abdulaziz Jaafar, chief executive of Omani technology company Etco, told the Oman Observer.

“It is encouraging to witness this first-of-its-kind project in the country’s history unfolding.

“And we are looking forward to seeing it through to a final stage that will occur later this year, when it will launched in to the low Earth orbit.”

Polish nanosatellite manufacturer SatRev built Aman and chief executive Grzegorz Zwolinski said the integration process was a success.

“All risks have been minimised due to the fit-check event that occurred during the previous month, where the same Virgin Orbit team was on-site at SatRev headquarters in Poland to perform a detailed walk-through of all planned integration steps," he said.

Aman will be among seven CubeSats sent into orbit during the spaceport's maiden launch.

The mission will allow Oman to join the ranks of other space nations including the UAE, which made history in 2020 when it launched a probe to Mars to study its atmosphere and climate.