The United Arab Emirates is putting aside $820 million to develop satellites as well as supplement its burgeoning space program that has plans to send a probe to Venus and has already put on in Mars’ orbit, according to a Bloomberg report. 

The country will send the first satellite into space three years into its ambitious six-year development plan according to the state-run WAM news agency. The program is looking to encourage industry leaders to establish offices in the UAE while providing them with concessions as part of the Space Agency’s Space Economic Zones Programme. 

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The $820 million programme is a part of the country’s efforts to combat climate change, develop environmental sustainability and bolster disaster management according to the country’s media office. Some of the intended applications of the initiative include the detection of oil spills, search and rescue as well as ship monitoring.

The success of the six-year programme will make the UAE the first Arab country to have a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellites. They are being called “Sirb” satellites, named after the Arabic word for a flock of birds, and are supposed to be built via public and private sector partnerships in association with foreign companies. 

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The UAE’s space programme is considered to be far ahead of its Middle Eastern counterparts. The country currently has plans to explore Venus in the next seven years, land a probe on an asteroid and put a satellite into Mars’ orbit. 

The Middle Eastern country first established its own space agency in 2014. It followed up by sending its first astronaut to the International Space Station in 2019 and is looking to send an unmanned spaceship to the moon by 2024.