EIAST engineers. Photo: EIAST

[Via Satellite 12-31-13] United Arab Emirates (UAE) prime minister and VP Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that the UAE will launch its first locally-constructed satellite in 2017.

The country’s two existing Earth observation satellites DubaiSat 1 and DubaiSat 2 were both built in Seoul, South Korea, in a partnership with Satrec; they are operated by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST). The new satellite, named KhalifaSat after UAE president Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will be made completely by and within the UAE.

“Our doors will remain open for cooperation with all Arab countries in space technology and engineering,’’ said Shaikh Mohammad.

Currently the EIAST has assembled a team of 45 Emirati engineers that have begun working on KhalifaSat.