Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Kuwait forays into space with first satellite launch

By Pramod Kumar
Kuna
The project was undertaken by Kuwait University and funded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences

Kuwait’s first satellite, ‘KuwaitSat-1’, was successfully launched into space onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, state-owned Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.

The project, which has been in the works for three years, was undertaken by Kuwait University and funded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. 

It comes as GCC countries continue to embark on their own space exploration journeys. UAE companies are working on international projects, including the UAE-made MBZ-SAT, which will be launched by the end of 2023 as the second operational Emirati satellite, Salem Humaid Al Marri, director-general of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre told state-run WAM news agency in April 2022.

He further highlighted the ongoing cooperation with regional and international companies in establishing a local space industries centre.

While in September, Saudi Arabia announced that it will send the first Saudi woman to space in 2023 as part of the Saudi Space Commission’s (SSC) new astronaut program,

And the following month, Oman-based International Emerging Technology Company (ETCO) said that the first Omani satellite, ‘Aman’, was successfully prepared for its launch into Low Earth Orbit, at Newquay, Cornwall, in the UK.

The Arab Space Cooperation Group was established in March 2019 in Abu Dhabi to serve as a platform to co-ordinate regional space efforts.

Saudi Arabia was a founding member of the group, along with Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Kuwait and the UAE.

The global space tech industry was worth about $4.5 trillion in 2021. This figure is expected to reach $10 trillion by 2030.

According to the most conservative estimates by SpaceTech Analytics, the sector accounts for 5 percent of global GDP.

Latest articles

Jacksonville Port in Florida. A new container service connecting the port to Jeddha could improve Saudi exports

Florida port service could increase Saudi non-oil exports

Saudi Arabia’s exports are set to improve following the introduction of a new container service that will link Jeddah with Florida. Non-oil exports rose 4.4 percent year on year in February while production cuts led oil exports to slip to 77 percent of the total, the government said. Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) in Florida said […]

An Emirates Boeing 777-300R. The Morocco facility will convert passenger planes to cargo

Boeing plane conversion facility to be built in Casablanca

A production facility is to be set up in Morocco to convert Boeing 777-300ER passenger jets into freighters. Stratos Industries will build three wide-body aircraft hangars at the Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca as part of a deal between US-based companies Kansas Modification Center (KMC) and Integrated Aerospace Alliance (IAA). KMC will convert up […]

Art NFTs Video length: 04:13

Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership

A Dubai tech startup is introducing tokenisation to the art world, after the NFT bubble burst spectacularly. 10101.art aims to make investing in art accessible to all by selling digitised fragments of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy and Picasso, allowing for collective ownership of a masterpiece for as little as $100 a fragment. […]

Rain falling on paved surfaces such as roads has nowhere to go, but retrofitting roads to allow rainwater harvesting could help, some experts say

Rain harvesting could help Dubai offset a stormy future

If last week’s floods made improving drainage a necessity for Dubai, the reward might come in the form of more natural water resources, provided the emirate can boost rain harvesting efforts, industry observers tell AGBI. “The main idea for countries, especially in drier areas, is to try to reuse water as much as possible,” says […]