Abu Dhabi will soon feature on the space map of the world with the setting up of the 4c Geocgulf Earth Observation Centre, the first space centre of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, to receive, analyze and utilize data from satellites orbiting the earth.
The 4c Geoc will be developed in a collaborative, joint venture between us public company 4c controls inc., and Abu Dhabi based Hydra Trading LLC.
The space centre will cover a surface area of approximately 10,000 square meters. The facility will host an earth observation satellite data Direct Receiving Station (DRS) and offer university level courses in space engineering held in cooperation with Politecnico di Torino, one of Europe’s most distinguished science and technology institutes.
Khalid Abdulla Mubarak al Buainnain, Executive Vice President Middle East Military and Defence projects, 4c Controls Inc. said, “we believe that having 4c s Gulf Earth observation centre located in Abu Dhabi will uniquely provide our region an access to a key technology, secure and timely data acquisition, processing, analysis and distribution, which was not available to our regional customers.’
He unveiled that the space centre will cost USD 30 million and USD 500 million be allocated for purchasing the two satellites which are scheduled to be launched in 2012 and 2013.
The space centre will be a dual use facility and be focused on defense applications, civilian security and surveillance, emergency risk management, maritime management, environmental protection, geology, forestry and hydrology, cartography and planning.