Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has announced that work on the KhalifaSat, the first indigenously built satellite, is moving at a steady pace and it is set to be launched later in 2018, WAM reported. The KhalifaSat project was begun by Shaikh Mohammad in 2013 and is part of MBRSC’s long-term strategy to encourage innovation, stimulate technological progress, promote sustainable development and create a generation of Emirati scientists and engineers who will contribute to a scientific renaissance and lead ambitious space projects over the next decade.
The value of existing UAE space-related investments is more than AED 20 billion currently. KhalifaSat is being developed in space technology laboratories in the UAE entirely by Emirati engineers. It is the third satellite owned by MBRSC following the launch of Dubai-1 and Dubai-2, it stated.
Once the manufacture and rigorous testing phases have been completed, the satellite will be transported to Japan for launch aboard the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rocket H-IIA. Once in orbit, KhalifaSat will provide imagery for a variety of uses, allowing the UAE to provide competitive services across the world.
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