MENA Project Tracker — UAE invests in space sector; Chinese consortium begins work on Arzew Project

MENA Project Tracker — UAE invests in space sector; Chinese consortium begins work on Arzew Project

RIYADH: The UAE space agency has announced plans to invest 3 billion dirhams ($816 million) in further developing radar satellites and its space program. It will enhance the latest Synthetic Aperture Radar technology, known as SAR, which will show constellations of advanced imaging satellites in the UAE, reported Trade Arabia. “SAR technology leapfrogs traditional imaging satellites, providing more powerful imaging using X-band radar technologies, allowing us to continue observations day and night, through fog and cloud cover,” said Sarah Al Amiri, chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency. The UAE formed its space agency in 2014 and launched its first astronaut to the International Space Station in 2019. It had plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024. Sirb, which is the space agency’s first project, is expected to be launched in three years’ time. The Chinese consortium of China National Technical Import & Export Corporation and Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Company — which partnered with publicly-owned Algeria Sonatrach — has begun construction on the $530 million industrial project in the port city of Azrew, MEED reported. Spread over an area of 11.4 hectares, the planned methyl tert-butyl ether facility is expected to generate 75,000 tons of methanol and