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Satnews Daily
October 30th, 2008

Development Of An Arab Space Agency Being Discussed


The United Arab Emirates is encouraging Arab and North African countries to participate in the efforts to set up an Arab space agency (ASA), Dr. Omar Al Emam, Advisor, Arab Science and Technology Foundation told the Khaleej Times.

Satellite technology can boost the efforts of governments to enhance the studies on environment, geology, aerospace and pollution and it can also be used for security purposes. Some of the Arab states, Dr. Omar said, have independent space programs and they use satellite technology quite often. Talks have already been held with the authorities concerned in regional governments and Arab League. “The aim is to create a common platform for Arab and North African countries to explore and adopt the latest space technology. The agency will work as a facilitator of this service and support all space related researches,” Dr. Omar said while attending the National Security Summit last Tuesday. The countries in the region can afford to buy the technology but developing it by themselves would be more advantageous.“ The ASA will coordinate the efforts to develop space technologies for the countries in the region,” he said.