UAE, ISRAEL SIGN SPACE AGREEMENT
UAE to develop scientific instruments for Israel’s 2024 Beresheet-2 lunar mission
The UAE Space Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Israel Space Agency to enhance cooperation in scientific research, space exploration and knowledge transfer to accelerate economic growth and human progress.
Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technologies and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said: “Sharing knowledge and expertise is a key part of the UAE’s vision to create an attractive and competitive national space industry. If you look at the most successful global space programs in history, the common denominator is collaboration. Israel has a globally recognised space industry and developing bilateral and multilateral partnerships has never been so important as we embrace a new era of space exploration.”
The agreement was signed with Orit Farkash Hacohen, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology of Israel.
A signing ceremony took place during Expo 2020 Dubai’s Space Week, held in association with the UAE Space Agency.
Salem Butti Al Qubaisi, Director-General of the UAE Space Agency; Ebrahim Al Qasim, Executive Director Space Sector at the UAE Space Agency, and Brigadier General Uri Oron, Director-General of the Israel Space Agency attended.
I share Minister Al Amiri’s vision of harnessing science and space not only as economic stimulus but also for bringing hearts together and educating our next generation.”
Strategic partnership
Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology said: “Israel is an international leader in the worlds of research, space, science and hi-tech... We are already launching advanced initiatives for the benefit of our children’s education and joint research. I share Minister Al Amiri’s vision of harnessing science and space not only as an economic stimulus but also for bringing hearts together and educating our next generation.”
The agreement lays the framework for a mutually beneficial strategic partnership that will strengthen efforts to gather and analyse scientific space data. Both parties will enhance collaboration and cooperation in a wide range of strategic fields, including exploration, research, data analysis, education and more.
Orit Farkash-Hacohen | Israel’s science minister
Joint research project
The UAE will exchange research and develop scientific instruments for Israel’s Beresheet-2
mission to land a spacecraft on the Moon by 2024 as part of the landmark agreement.
Universities in Israel and the UAE will also launch collaborative research projects. They include exploring red tide phenomenon, analysing red palm weevil infestation which threatens date palm cultivation, and mapping aerosols — solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere. Vegetation and environmental data gathered by a microsatellite used by the Israel Space Agency and the French Space Agency will also be shared with the UAE.
“This agreement builds on the historic Abraham Accords and our shared vision to promote regional peace and prosperity by driving forward economic growth and human progress,” Farkash-Hacohen said.
UAE space programme
The Emirates’ space programme started in 2006 with a knowledge transfer programme and a series of earth observation satellites designed and built by Emirati engineers.
The Emirates Mars Mission was launched in 2020. Today, the Hope Probe is orbiting the Martian planet. Data gathered on this mission has shared freely with scientific institutions.
The UAE recently announced a mission to explore the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Scheduled to launch in 2028, the mission is designed to further accelerate space research.