UAE launches $818mn National Space Fund to support the sector’s growth

UAE launches $818mn National Space Fund to support the sector’s growth

The UAE Space Agency has launched a new $818 million national investment and development fund for the space sector, ‘The National Space Fund’.

The Fund will support groundbreaking new programs launched to support international and Emirati companies cooperating in leading-edge space sector engineering, sciences and research applications.

The first project to be launched to space under the Fund will be the development and launch of a constellation of advanced imaging satellites for the Emirates, using the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology. The constellation is to be named Sirb after the Arabic term for a flock of birds, and will address the critical need for better environmental and land usage monitoring, data collection and analysis to meet today’s global challenges.

The Fund will actively encourage partnerships between international and local enterprises, providing them with incentives as a part of the UAE Space Agency’s Space Economic Zones Program.

Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri

Minister of State for Advanced Technology

Chairperson

UAE Space Agency “A long-term plan and program for the development of the Emirates’ space sector are in place to create economic opportunities, new jobs and help to fund global partnerships and new leaders in technology, space sciences and engineering here in the UAE. We are planning for a