ABU DHABI // The country’s first factory for making satellites is expected to be completed in Dubai in the next few months.
The next UAE satellite, Khalifa-Sat, will be made at the centre by Emiratis, the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (Eiast) said on Tuesday.
It will include a “clean room”, and electrical and mechanical laboratories.
They will be equipped with cooling and ventilation systems and be completely insulated from dust and humidity.
It is the first phase of a larger satellite-making development, which is expected to be finished within the next two years.
“The construction work of facilities dedicated to manufacture satellites at Eiast are on schedule,” said Yousuf Al Shaibani, the institution’s director general.
“Therefore, we will move as soon as possible from South Korea to Dubai to complete the development of KhalifaSat.
“In South Korea, we have a team of Emirati engineers working on completing the first phase of the project in collaboration with Satrec Initiative, which is providing technical advice when necessary.”
Once completed and equipped, the last phase of KhalifaSat, which will take 18 months, will be completed at the primary facility by Emiratis.
It is designed according to the highest global standards and specifications, Eiast said.
“Within a very short period of time we have made a lot of achievements, such as the successful launch of DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2 into space,” said Mr Al Shaibani.
“Today, we are building facilities for the manufacture of satellites in the country, which is a real experiment for us and a big challenge for our ability to develop high-level infrastructure for space sciences, to develop local human resources and enhance their technical innovation.”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
