Youth in UAE speak
The launching of KhalifaSat is a big pride and honour for our country, it sends a very good message about the UAE to the rest of world and shows our positive contributions to benefit and help others. What makes this satellite even more special is that it was also completely built by Emiratis; this again is a big honour for us because we have created our own satellite and are now sending it out to space. This shows that we are capable of achieving anything, especially the youth.”
Latifa Al Nuaimi | Emirati, 18, Higher Colleges Technology
KhalifaSat is a great innovation for our country, it’s a major achievement that has required a lot of dedication and effort. This project illustrates how the UAE truly embraces the culture of innovation and forward thinking. A lot of young people were also involved in building this satellite which is also a great thing. The largest group in the UAE are young people below the age of 35 and our leadership has always shown a lot of faith in us providing us with what we need to help our country, and this programme is an example of that.”
Shamma Fahd Al Thehli | Emirati, 18, Zayed University
We are very proud of this accomplishment – KhalifaSat will only be the start because after this experience we are going to learn more and keep improving for even bigger projects. This is a big inspiration to all of us in the country and will drive us to do more as young people. If you look at the UAE, we are a small country, but that hasn’t stopped us from achieving our ambitions. This will be good for us and the region as well and hopefully, it will motivate other countries.”
Saeed Salah Al Qubaisi | Emirati, 18, Zayed University
KhalifaSat shows that the Arab world is capable of innovation and major scientific endeavours. If we look at history, we see that the Arab and Muslim world brought many great breakthroughs in science and astronomy, and so a major project like this is rekindling that spirit. For young people in the Arab world, this can act as a big inspiration; they will see the launch on the news and all over social media and know that this is real, that in the Arab world we can do such great things like sending our own satellite into space.” Tesnim Hatab| American-Lebanese, 21, Abu Dhabi University
KhalifaSat will inspire young Arabs across our region. It shows that young Arabs can do big things in science and technology and so this is very good news for not just the UAE but also for the Arab world. News from our part of the world is often negative and so it’s nice to have a good story coming out, something that can motivate our next generation to do better.”
Hiba Ramadan| Palestinian, 20, Abu Dhabi University