An unmanned space mission to Mars is "on track” for 2021 and will benefit from falling costs in the sector, according to the head of the UAE's space agency.
"The mission is on track in terms of timeline, budget and building capability,” said Mohammed Al Ahbabi, the director general of the UAE Space Agency, at the Dubai Airshow.
Mr Al Ahbabi said that the launch site for the mission will "definitely” be outside the UAE.
"We don't have launching capability in the country,” he said, adding that the UAE will look for options in Europe, the United States, Russia or Japan.
The country said in May that it would launch a probe – named Hope – to Mars, with the project led by Emiratis.
The satellite will travel more than 60 million kilometres in nine months and will be launched to coincide with the UAE's 50th anniversary.
Moving forward, Mr Al Ahbabi said the agency was working on a policy that "will regulate the space sector and issue a space law in the UAE”.
The UAE intends to present the policy plan to the Government this year.
Mr Al Ahbabi declined to disclose an investment figure for the Mars mission, saying "it is still at an early stage”, but he said that prices for spacecraft components have dropped.
"The space industry is much cheaper than before … technology has matured,” he said.
"There is mass production. The space components are still expensive, but have gone down from the past 10 years ago.”
The country's combined investments in space technology have already exceeded Dh20 billion including Yahsat, Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications and Dubai Sat.
Source: The National
GMT 21:47 2018 Friday ,19 October
US wants Russia to be partner in creating lunar orbital outpostGMT 14:06 2018 Wednesday ,17 October
Russian cosmonaut praises US astronaut Hague’s during Soyuz failureGMT 12:06 2018 Friday ,14 September
Russia, US discuss flights of ISS international crewsGMT 14:37 2017 Friday ,08 December
'no path to value' in Broadcom tie-upGMT 04:31 2017 Thursday ,18 May
World close to ‘serious digital sabotage,GMT 05:07 2017 Sunday ,12 March
‘Cyber attacks pose challenge to emerging markets’GMT 00:55 2016 Thursday ,17 November
WhatsApp adds secure callingGMT 21:17 2016 Tuesday ,08 November
Vimpelcom ‘reinventing’ itself as Internet playerMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor