Ukraine in Arabic | A space agency will be created in United Arab Emirates
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ President of UAE Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a decree for a federal law No.1 of 2014 regarding the establishment of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. The UAE's rulers aim to build one of the top aerospace programs in the world. It has spent $5 billion so far, the country's vice president said. By comparison, NASA has a $17.6 billion budget in 2014.
The country hopes to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of independence from the UK. The UAE is also developing a domestic industry to build satellites, which have so far been built in collaboration with South Korea.
The law, which was published in the Official Gazette, stated that the agency would have its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and have a branch in Dubai.
The first meeting of the UAE Space Agency was held in July and was led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, who directed all government institutions to provide maximum support.
The unmanned probe will travel more than 60 million kilometers in nine months and will be launched to coincide with the UAE’s 50th anniversary.
“We aim for the UAE to be among the top countries in aerospace by 2021,” Sheikh Khalifa has said. "We have a great belief in the talents of our young people and the strongest determination, the greatest ambitions and a clear plan to reach our targets."
