UAE Space Agency attains international leadership based on UAE Vision 2021: Report

ABU DHABI, 18th July, 2017 (WAM) -- The UAE Space Agency is celebrating three years of success and achievements in enhancing the country’s national space sector, as well as shaping its legal and legislative framework with renewed ambition, to attain a leading position for the UAE in the global space industry. Since its launch in 2014, the UAE Space Agency framework and mission seek to organise and lead the nation’s space sector to meet the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021. One of the agency’s achievements includes its support and backing of the country’s peoples, with its Emiratisation rates reaching around 85 percent. Forty percent of the agency’s employees are women, indicating how the agency seeks to encourage women’s participation in the space sciences. The UAE Space Agency has also succeeded in enhancing the national space sector by shaping its legal and legislative framework. The launch of the agency’s strategic plan in May 2015, in line with the UAE’s Vision 2021 was another step in its long line of achievements. This achievement was followed by the launch of a national police force for the UAE space sector, which was commissioned after the UAE Cabinet’s approval in September 2016. The UAE Space Agency’s efforts have been acknowledged by various international authorities, organisations and space agencies. Its international standing is also reflected in its signing of 16 Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation agreements with various authorities in space exploration and the exchange of knowledge. In three years the UAE Space Agency has also obtained membership to major international organisations in the global space sector, including the International Astronautical Federation last September. This latest membership adds to an impressive list of organisations such as the International Committee for Space Exploration, the International Coordination Group for the Exploration of Outer Space, the International Commission for Global Navigation Satellite Systems, Earth Watch, among others. The agency has placed concerted efforts in its numerous events that have seen a wide number of Arab and international participants. Most notable was the World Space Conference held at the beginning of the year in the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi. The conference aimed to identify policies, strategies and sources of funding for the global space sector and saw many high profile attendees who all commended the UAE’s prominent position in the Many participants and speakers were part of this conference, including presidents of international space agencies, executive directors from leading companies in space and aviation sectors, representatives of ministries, and senior researchers and academics, who all highlighted the UAE’s prominent position in the global space industry. The Space Agency’s international standing is also exemplified with its participation in major world conferences and exhibitions. Representing the nation, the UAE Space Agency exchanged experiences and successes with global decision-makers at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the International Space Conference, the Max 2015 International Air and Space Exhibition in Moscow, the Paris Air Show, the Japan Space Week, the Dubai Air Show and Abu Dhabi's First Scientific Innovation Forum. In November 2015, the UAE Space Agency organised a joint scientific campaign to monitor the entry of an object from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere, in cooperation with the UAE International Astronomy Centre, which was among its most important scientific initiatives that attracted the world’s attention and promoted the UAE’s position as a major player in the global space sector. The agency also succeeded in launching a national network to monitor meteors and meteorites, in cooperation with the International Astronomy Centre in Abu Dhabi. This network was formed from three observatories distributed around the UAE, to record astronomical events in the skies above the country. On the academic level, the UAE Space Agency has also enhanced the standard of science education through its cooperation with relevant local and international institutions. It also launched the National Centre for Space Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, represented by the ICT Sector Development Fund and the United Arab Emirates University, which contributed to supporting the country's strategic plans in the area of space science and technology. The agency has also signed Memoranda of Understanding with eight leading national universities, to set a framework for cooperation in the fields of education, research, science, technology and space applications, with the aim of supporting the national space sector. It has also provided a range of scholarships for exceptional students and organised summer camps to develop their knowledge in the space sciences. It also held skills enhancement programmes with major international partners. The UAE Space Agency has organised national competitions to motivate and encourage local students to enter the space sector and to raise awareness about the industry and space sciences, as well as the community’s interest in the UAE’s space activities. Experts and specialists have praised the role and achievements of the UAE Space Agency since its establishment in 2014. Ahmed Al Shamsi, Acting CEO of the Thuraya Telecommunications Company, congratulated the UAE Space Agency and its employees on the occasion of its third anniversary, highlighting the importance of its leading regional role, as well as its exceptional position and reputation among the global space community. He also expressed the Thuraya Telecommunications Company’s keenness to continue its cooperation with the agency in several programmes and events and to support its projects, to raise awareness and interest in space activities, build international partnerships, and promote the country's legacy in space innovation. Yussuf Hamad Al Sheebany, Director-General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, also congratulated the agency and praised its many achievements.