UAE students build satellite to help fight climate change

Fatema Alayyan and Aisha Khalid, AURAK students.

A group of university students in the UAE are building a satellite that aims to help the planet on its fight against climate change.
More than 12 students from the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) and the Khalifa University are building the nanosatellite called MeznSat, which will be able to detect greenhouse gases from space.
The project is under the educational strategies of the UAE Space Agency and is meant to be launched into space by the end of this year.
Fatema Alayyan is an Emirati electronics and communications engineering student at the AURAK and is one of the students building the nanosatellite.
"With the satellite, we will be able to point out what exactly causes the greenhouse gases and predict how to prevent them. It will provide data calculations to students and researchers, so they can work towards fighting against the production of these gases," Alayyan told Khaleej Times.
An American student at the AURAK, Aisha Khalid, is a computer science major and is working on the technical side of the satellite.
She explained that MeznSat includes two payloads, an RGB camera, deployable antennas, a communication system to communicate with the ground station, an onboard computer to measure sensor data on the satellite and a spectrometer, which will measure the gases.
Khalid said: "One of the educational objectives is to teach students space technology, because nanosatellites are gaining popularity. A growing number of university students around the world are building them."
This is not the first time university students in the UAE are developing a space object. Last November, students from the Khalifa University had built and launched another nanosatellite, MySat-1, which is currently placed in the International Space Station.
The UAE is putting a strong focus on educating the youth on space science and technologies. The country's space industry is expected to pick up even further as it launches its first Emirati astronauts into space this year.
It will also be expanding its astronaut corps, utilise its advanced Earth-observation satellite - KhalifaSat - for humanitarian and research purposes, develop more satellites that combat climate change, introduce space science studies into schools and universities, as well as set up a launch hub in Abu Dhabi for Virgin Galactic space flights.
The YahSat Space Laboratory was also launched at the Masdar Institute in 2017, where students were able to build the MySat-1 nanosatellite. The lab aims to offer students and faculty the necessary facilities to construct, test and launch miniature satellites (CubeSats).
More than Dh22 billion has already been invested into space projects by the UAE.
However, as the industry grows, authorities are also trying to introduce tighter regulations around the utilisation of space and construction of space objects.
Khaleej Times reported previously that a draft law - which is currently waiting for approval - will make it illegal for anyone to own, construct or launch any kind of space object, including satellites and rockets, without seeking approval. The fine for those who break the law will be no less than Dh100,000 and no more than Dh10 million, as well as up to two years jail time.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai