The UAE is ready to train its first astronauts
The UAE has approved a manned space flight programme and could begin training the first Emirati astronauts as early as next year, according to a senior government official.
Salem Humaid Al Marri, assistant director general at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, said that putting a UAE astronaut in orbit was a serious undertaking, rather than being done simply for prestige.
“This is an initiative from the UAE Government to have a sustainable human space flight programme,” Mr Al Marri said at the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Australia. The Government would formally seek applications for astronaut training by the end of this year or the first quarter of next year, he said
After between six and eight months, a final selection of four to six astronauts would be made.
Mr Al Marri said: “When we talk about sustainable, that means that we are not looking at launching an astronaut for a week or launching a tourist flight, but we’re looking at a programme that is based on science.”
The intention was to have the first UAE astronaut in space by 2021, in time for the country’s 50th anniversary.
Mr Al Marri said no decision had been made about how the first UAE astronaut would go into orbit. “We do envisage that we partner up with all of the major space agencies, somehow and in some structure.”
There are a growing number of options. Next year, Boeing will begin the first flights of its Starliner capsule.
The Starliner can accommodate up to seven astronauts, including passengers, and is designed for low Earth orbit and specifically to supply the International Space Station.
Also close to manned space flight is Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon capsule, due to blast off within the next 12 months.
A third option is the Russian Soyuz rocket, at present the only spacecraft able to take astronauts to the ISS.
In recent months the UAE has announced several space projects. In 2021 the space probe Hope is scheduled to launch as the climax of the Emirates Mars Mission, a joint project with the Mohammed bin Rashid and UAE space centres.
It will be the first mission to the Red Planet by a Muslim country, and will carry out scientific research while orbiting the planet.
Last week Mars Science City was announced, a Dh500 million project that will simulate what will be needed for human colonisation of the planet, using a series of huge domes.
The UAE leadership has also set the goal of building a city on Mars by 2117.