26-02-2025
UAE to launch satellite next month under South Korea space partnership
The UAE will launch its latest high-tech satellite next month in partnership with South Korea, in the latest step forward for the country's growing space sector. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, said the development of the satellite, called Etihad-Sat, highlighted the nation's soaring ambitions in space exploration. The advanced synthetic aperture radar (Sar) features cutting-edge imaging technology, enabling it to provide high-precision observation in all weather condition, Sheikh Hamdan said. Etihad-Sat was built through a strategic partnership between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and South Korea's Satrec Initiative. No details were disclosed on the launch site and date for the satellite, or what its primary objectives will be. "Our ambitions in the space sector know no bounds, and we firmly believe in the capabilities of our youth to strengthen the UAE's global leadership in space exploration and help shape a brighter future for humanity, powered by knowledge and innovation," Sheikh Hamdan posted on social media platform X. In January, the UAE's MBZ-Sat, the region's most advanced Earth-observation satellite, blasted off into space. The 750kg satellite was launched into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, engineered by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. MBZ-Sat, named in honour of President Sheikh Mohamed, had been in development by Emirati engineers at the MBRSC since 2020, with most of the satellite parts made by private companies. Amar Vora, head of space at Serco Middle East, a company that provides services and consultancy to the public and private sector, previously told The National that the satellite would provide the highest resolution imagery in the region. Its capabilities exceed those of its predecessor, KhalifaSat. Meanwhile, the country's Hope probe completed four years in orbit around Mars this month and is continuing to deliver crucial scientific data that is helping researchers to better understand the Red Planet's atmosphere, weather and potential signs of past life. On February 9, 2021, the country became the first Arab nation and the fifth worldwide to enter the planet's orbit with a car-sized spacecraft. Since then, researchers around the world have been using the probe's data to fill the gaps in understanding Mars's climate history, atmospheric dynamics and the presence of bio-signature gases that could indicate whether the planet once hosted life. The mission has also provided unprecedented insights into Martian auroras, weather patterns and one of the planet's two moons, Deimos.
