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UAE private companies invited to take part in Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt

The UAE Space Agency made the invitation at the recently-concluded ‘Make it in the Emirates’ Forum in Abu Dhabi

Published: Fri 2 Jun 2023, 8:37 PM

Updated: Sat 3 Jun 2023, 1:00 AM

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Photo: UAE Space Agency via AP

Photo: UAE Space Agency via AP

Startups, private companies and research centres in the UAE are invited to take part in the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, the first-ever mission to explore and study seven asteroids of the main asteroid belt.

The UAE Space Agency made the invitation at the recently-concluded ‘Make it in the Emirates’ Forum in Abu Dhabi.

“Driven by our continuous efforts to create a sustainable and encouraging environment for investors and entrepreneurs, we empower local private companies to take part in the UAE's space sector and missions, and help drive the growth of this sector,” said Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi, director general of the UAE Space Agency.

“(We) offer a solid investment environment and attractive incentives to enable the growth of local companies, promote their capabilities, creating better global market access… Our aim is to create new growth channels for advanced innovation and technology companies in the UAE,” he added.

First phase

The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt will provide over 30 opportunities for private companies to participate in executing the UAE’s most advanced and ambitious scientific mission to date.

The opportunities cover hardware development including, electrical parts, mechanical parts and system-wide analysis as well as ground support equipment. There are several system-level development opportunities from the deep space missions ground control center, design of subsystems within the spacecraft and the lander.

There will also be workshops and training programmes to train young Emirati talents and companies on component assembly and space subsystem engineering.

Beyond Mars

The Emirate Mission to the Asteroid Belt is a key national scientific program, a 13-year mission, including 6 years for spacecraft development and a 7-year mission through the main asteroid belt beyond Mars, performing a series of close flybys to make unique observations of seven main belt asteroids.

The UAE spacecraft MBR Explorer will travel in a 5-billion-kilometre journey bypassing Mars, performing gravity assist manoeuvres around Venus, followed by Earth, and finally Mars, to boost the spacecraft’s velocity and support its flyby campaign, with its first asteroid encounter taking place in February 2030 at the asteroid Westerwald, followed by Chimaera and Rockox. Subsequent flybys will occur through 2034 to the seventh asteroid, Justitia.

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