From the UAE to…the edge of space

It is one giant leap for the UAE – by the end of next month, a 200kg piece of metal called DubaiSat-1 will be soaring around Earth 10 times faster than a speeding bullet.

Capturing images of the surface, the nation's first civilian observation satellite will not only transmit a stream of data, it will send the message the Emirates has boldly entered the Space Age.

The Dh180 million DubaiSat-1 remote sensing satellite, designed to collect data on the Earth and space, is to be launched on July 25.

The satellite is undergoing final tests and safety checks before a team from Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology ships it from its factory in South Korea to its launch base in Kazakhstan, from where it will be launched on a Russian Dnepr rocket.

For Ahmed Al Mansoori, Director-General and Vice-Chairman of the institute, the launch will be a moment of national pride.

"The successful completion of the final stages of DubaiSat-1 by the team of UAE national experts, including engineers and specialists working on the project, have underscored the reputation of the UAE as a key player in space research.

"We are glad that our youth is part of space technology research, a testament to the tremendous talent among UAE youngsters."

The satellite was scheduled for lift-off in the fourth quarter of last year but had its launch date pushed back by a number of administrative and logistical delays.

The device was completed in July after two years' work by a team of South Korean and Emirati engineers.

The engineers also created a ground station to monitor and manage the satellite as well as an image-receiving station and a processing centre, at Al Awir, Dubai, and built by US firm ViaSat

The satellite will deliver high-resolution images for a number of applications, including urban development, transportation, mapping and disaster management.

Scientists will focus on forecasting fog formation, and will use pictures from the satellite to predict sandstorms, the quality of water in the Gulf, especially the effect of waste distillation on the environment and marine life, and ways to improve the clarity of satellite pictures.

Communications satellites have been launched by the UAE companies before, but DubaiSat-1 will be the first government satellite to be sent into the orbit.

Work has begun on another satellite, DubaiSat-2, which is expected to be launched within two years. There are also plans for a DubaiSat-3.

Al Mansoori insists the satellite will never be used for spying, such as gleaning information about Tehran's military capabilities on the UAE's three Gulf islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs – occupied by Iran since 1971.

The key to the project, says Al Mansoori, lies in the eight Emirati graduates, all aged their 20s, who were handinpicked to help build the satellite and control the device after launch.

While DubaiSat-1 is only one small step for man – Al Mansoori describes the enterprise as one giant leap for Emiratis.

"We are calling it a 'catalyst project'," he said. "It is only the beginning for us. It is 100 per cent Emirati. The next step will be to build an institute for graduate research to transfer what our team has learned to others."

After the launch of the satellite, the team plans to run the ground station and decode data transmitted from DubaiSat-1, while simultaneously work on DubaiSat-2.

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