United Arab Emirates to establish human spaceflight program

[Elderberry]

Space News by Jeff Foust — October 2, 2017

ADELAIDE, Australia — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to establish its own astronaut corps in the next year, seeking to fly its citizens into space on other nations’ vehicles starting in the early 2020s.

In a panel discussion at the 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Sept. 28, officials with the country’s new space agency said that the country sought to develop a “sustainable” human spaceflight program with scientific applications, rather than simply the prestige of flying humans in space.

“This is an initiative from the UAE government to have a sustainable human spaceflight program,” said Salem Humaid Al Marri, assistant director general at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. “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 program that is based on science.”

More: http://spacenews.com/united-arab-emirates-to-establish-human-spaceflight-program/

[Joe Wooten]

And, just where is the industrial and technical infrastructure for this gonna come from? Especially when you look at Arab culture and their aversion to honest work.

[Elderberry]

And, just where is the industrial and technical infrastructure for this gonna come from? Especially when you look at Arab culture and their aversion to honest work.

No infrastructure required. They are looking at booking passage and performing experiments with their "carry-ons".

There would be several options for the UAE to choose from, including Soyuz flights by Russia to the International Space Station and Shenzhou flights to a Chinese space station slated to be completed by the early 2020s. Other options include flights on commercial crew vehicles being developed by Boeing and SpaceX.

--- follow-on experiments that could be carried out by UAE astronauts on their flights. ---

One can imagine what manner of experiments those will be.

[Joe Wooten]

No infrastructure required. They are looking at booking passage and performing experiments with their "carry-ons".

One can imagine what manner of experiments those will be.

[kevindavis007]

Space Ping! PM me if you want on or off the list..


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