The UAEs Space Symposium presence underscores its commitment to global collaboration and advancing space innovation and sustainability.
The UAE, represented by the UAE Space Agency, concluded its participation in the 40th Space Symposium, which took place from April 7 to 10. Held in Colorado, USA, the forum brought together global industry leaders, government representatives, commercial space businesses and experts from around the world.
His Excellency Salem Butti Al Qubaisi, Director-General of UAE Space Agency headed the Agencys delegation. The delegation included the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) national team, and a number of officials and expert engineers.
Al Qubaisi stressed that the UAE’s participation in the Space Symposium affirms the Agencys commitment to strengthening international collaboration in space and exploring new horizons for innovation and sustainability. This comes in line with the UAEs ambitious vision to build a sustainable national space economy over the next 50 years. Al Qubaisi highlighted that the forum was a strategic opportunity for knowledge exchange with industry leaders and global experts. As a result, this will contribute, in the short and long term, to strengthening efforts to developing national competencies capable of leading the future in this field according to the highest international standards, especially in EMA, which represents a pioneering step towards reinforcing the UAEs position in the global space sector.
Al Qubaisi further extended his engagement by visiting the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), where he was briefed on EMAs latest developments. During the visit, Al Qubaisi met with experts from LASP and the university, and held a meeting with the EMA team members, which included Emirati talents from leading local organisations. At the end of the visit, Al Qubaisi praised the team’s spirit and efficiency and noted that this project marks a strategic milestone in the UAEs journey towards global space leadership.
The visit also included a tour of LASPs facilities, a series of technical and scientific meetings, a presentation by the mission’s lead engineers on the latest updates, and a meeting with the project management team.
Al Qubaisi also took part in a session alongside a group of global leaders in the space sector, most notably Kevin Coggins, Deputy Associate Administrator and Director of the Satellite Communications and Navigation Programme in NASA; Dr Mohammed Saud Al Tamimi, Governor of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission in KSA; and Heath A. Collins, Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) at the US Department of Defense, to discuss global space cooperation.
On the sidelines of the forum, the UAE Space Agency delegation held a series of meetings with leading space agencies and international companies, including NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Amazon KGS, Ansys, Novaspace and Virgin Galactic.
During these meetings, the delegation discussed fostering cooperation in several vital areas, namely EMA, the national space programme, technological updates, and the Artemis Accords, which the UAE joined in 2020. The meetings also addressed future partnership opportunities in space sustainability, artificial intelligence-enabled space data, as well as scientific training and empowerment.
The national space sector recently achieved numerous qualitative milestones through several projects, including EMAthe first-ever mission set to explore seven asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Furthermore, the UAE seeks to nurture its space presence with the launch of the (MBZ-SAT), the regions most advanced satellite, marking a significant leap in space technology and Earth observation, and the Etihad Sat satellite, which represents a qualitative leap in the field of Earth observation using radar imaging technology, allowing for the capture of high-resolution images in various weather conditions. This represents a strategic addition that supports the UAE’s efforts to develop advanced space solutions. This year is also expected to witness the launch of the Arab Satellite 813 project, bolstering regional cooperation and knowledge exchange in the space sector.
