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KhalifaSat of the United Arab Emirates sets off to the space
Named after the sitting president, KhalifaSat is an unprecedented UAE scientific achievement in the space industry.
October 28, 2018 marks a major step in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) space industry as the KhalifaSat satellite was successfully launched into orbit at 8am (UAE time).
KhalifaSat is the first Earth observation satellite to be manufactured entirely by UAE engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai said on Twitter: "This is a historic day for the UAE as young engineers demonstrate their ability, maturity, knowledge and ambition to join in the science and technology of the world. Today, our minds have been launched into the sky.”
KhalifaSat provides high-resolution imagery of the Earth which will be used for a variety of purposes, including urban planning, regional classification, environmental change monitoring, and disaster relief support.
KhalifaSat was successfully launched by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-2A rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan before heading into the lower Earth's orbit to accomplish its mission for five years.
Since the 1970s, the UAE founder Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan nurtured the UAE's dream of conquering the space. And after a few decades, right on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this dream has come true.
The UAE satellite journey began in 2006 with the founding of the Emirates Institute of High Science and Technology (EIAST) in Dubai, and was incorporated into the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in 2015.
Since 2006, EIAST has partnered with Satrec Initiative, a South Korean satellite producer, to learn how to design and manufacture two DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2 projects. And for 10 years in the South Korea, the UAE's engineering team has acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to make a satellite before returning to the UAE to design and produce KhalifaSat.
KhalifaSat is the first Earth observation satellite to be manufactured entirely by UAE engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.
KhalifaSat successfully lifts off into space on board H-2A rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre.
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KhalifaSat provides high-resolution imagery of the Earth which will be used for a variety of purposes, including urban planning, regional classification, environmental change monitoring, and disaster relief support.
UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed meets with three American astronauts in February 1976.
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Since the 1970s, the UAE founder Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan nurtured the UAE's dream of conquering the space. And after a few decades, right on the 100th anniversary of his birth, this dream has come true.
First image(Palm Jumeirah) by KhalifaSat
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Since 2006, EIAST has partnered with Satrec Initiative, a South Korean satellite producer, to learn how to design and manufacture two DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2 projects. And for 10 years in the South Korea, the UAE's engineering team has acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to make a satellite before returning to the UAE to design and produce KhalifaSat.
