Martin Croucher
10 June 2009
DUBAI — A base for manufacturing satellites will be built in Dubai to cater to the country’s growing interest in space technology. The plant will be based in the Al Khawaneej area of Dubai and is expected to be ready in the next two years, said a senior official from the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST).
Fourteen UAE engineers have been based in South Korea for two years to oversee the construction of the country’s first satellite — Dubai-Sat 1.
The satellite will launch on July 25 from a former military base in Kazakhstan, on a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile.
It is hoped that the UAE engineers will be able to employ the skills they have learned in South Korea to build the second satellite in Dubai.
“Building a satellite requires a large area and special crane equipment,” said Salem Al Marri, project manager for EIAST.
“We are working on building those facilities now. We are in the design stage and we have not set a date for completion. We have plenty of time before the next satellite is launched.”
EIAST has already built a ground station to monitor Dubai Sat-1, as well as an image-receiving station and a processing centre.
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The 200kg satellite will beam back images of the country from space that will help in environmental monitoring, disaster management and urban planning. It will orbit the earth at 700km and will have a lifespan of five years. Al Marri would not say if Dubai Sat-2 would perform a similar role.
“We are currently in the early stages and we haven’t finalised the design yet,” he told Khaleej Times.
“It’s too early to say what additional features it will have.”
He said that up to three satellites had been planned over the next 10-15 years and the manufacturing area would be involved in producing a succession of satellites. The cost of Dubai Sat-1 has been estimated at Dh180 million.
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