[09-20-07 – Satellite Today] The  Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), a Dubai government organization, plans to launch its DubaiSat-1 spacecraft in 2008, the organization announced.

The satellite is intended to make the United Arab Emirates one of the global leaders in science and technology development. 

“As the UAE continues to develop on all accounts, there is a definite need for an accurate multipurpose information system,”Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, director general of EIAST, said in statement. "DubaiSat-1 will support the infrastructural development by providing information that is central for the decision making process affecting the urban and rural planning as well as transport, utilities and mapping in addition to environmental applications such as monitoring pollution and detecting oil spills.”