Infinity and beyond: 6 upcoming UAE space mega projects
Get in friends, we’re headed for the stars…
You can tell a lot about the maturation of a country by looking at its ambitions – and involvement in projects – of space travel. When the sky is no longer the limit, everything is possible, fronties unfold across new dimensions. And whilst these upcoming projects aren’t the UAE’s first space rodeo, the not-too-distant future holds even more exciting voyages, where the country seeks to boldly go, where no human has gone before.
Mars mission
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Sirb Satellite
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Lunar Rover
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Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt
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813 Satellite
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One Giant leap for womankind
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Asteroid
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MBSAT
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To the moon
Kicking things off with ‘a giant leap’ for the UAE’s space story – the UAE should, by the end of the year, have completed work on a 100 per cent Emirati-made lunar rover and sent it all the way to the moon. This lunar mission will include a direct research component as well as an opportunity to test space tech and stand as a sort of a dry run for a manned mission to Mars.
Artemis now
Back in January of 2024, we had the announcement that the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center would be working with NASA to build an airlock for Gateway – the first lunar orbit space station and key component of the Artemis Program (an international cooperation between space-forward nations).
One giant leap for womankind
Following in the hallowed space boot footprints of Emirati astronauts Hazza Al Mansouri (International Space Station (ISS) crew member) and Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi (who took a Space X trip to the ISS), the esteemed engineer and NASA Astronaut programme graduate, Nora AlMatrooshi will soon be making her way into space on an upcoming off-world mission. This will make her the first female Emirati, and certainly not the last, in space.
Twinkling lights of satellites
The UAE has already launched satellites into space (including MBZSAT, launching today), but it’s next orbit objectives are even more impressive. Sirb is the mission to launch ‘a constellation’ of advanced imaging satellites, using SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) tech. It’s named after the Arabic term for a flock of birds, and seeks to gather complex data on earth’s land usage and environmental indicators. Project 813 represents the first space cooperation Program between the Arab countries, and is of course led by the UAE. Satellite 813 was named after the year that signified the start of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, and it will be focused on gathering climate change intel.
Armageddon out of here
In a project that sounds eerily similar to the plot of Armageddon, the UAE’s next grand space adventure in 2028 will involve a five-year, 3.6 billion-kilometre interplanetary yomp. The destination? An asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The objective? To land a spacecraft on an asteroid. If achieved, it will mean the UAE becomes just the fourth nation to have ever achieved that particular goal. In total, the extra-terrestrial excursion will take in the rocky vistas of seven asteroids: 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera, 13294 Rockox, 88055, 23871, 59980, and attempt to land on 269 Justitia by the year 2034.
Raising the Mars bar
This is the pledge, shared in 2017 that within a century, the UAE will have established “the first inhabitable human settlement on Mars” by 2117. It’s a huge goal, but judging by the space strides already made by the UAE and the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, it’s entirely within reach.
Images: What’s On archive/UAE Space Agency
