Omran Sharaf: From Mars mission to COPUOS

Omran Sharaf, who led the UAE’S mission to Mars will serve as the director of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) from 2022 to 2023.

COPUOS was established in 1959 by the United Nations General Assembly to foster global cooperation in peaceful use of outer space. Additionally, it plays the role of arbitrator in any legal issues arising from the exploration of outer space.

One of 2021’s most transformative events in the region, saw Hope Probe enter Mars’ orbit on February 9. And a calm and composed Sharaf, 38, was at the helm leading a team of young engineers since 2014 to make the UAE’S first interplanetary mission a smashing success.

Last year Sharaf was named among the world’s top 50 future leaders by the project management institute (Us-based non-profit professionals association). He has also represented the UAE at COPUOS and the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

Sharaf has been instrumental in the success of the UAE’S Emirates Mars Mission.

In an earlier interview with Khaleej Times, Sharaf had pointed out that he felt “lucky” and “honoured” that he experienced a momentous occasion (Mars’s mission) in his career.

Sharaf, earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia, USA in 2005, and his post-graduate in science and technology policy from the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea, in 2013.

He began working with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in 2006, when it was called the Emirates Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

He said that during his growing years, it had always been his dream to work on a project or a mission related to space, even though the UAE footprint in the space sector at that time was negligible. “I wasn’t sure when I was young if that would be possible because at that time the UAE as a country was not developed in space technology. We were users and operators of space technologies, not developers,” he said.

“Usually, nations have their science and technology capabilities established before going into space. But the UAE’S story is different. We used space to build our science and technology capabilities. I never imagined then that one day I would be working on a mission to Mars,” he added.