Fourteen Arab States are to sign the charter that establishes the Arab Group for Space Cooperation. Saudi Arabia already signed the charter on 15 June.
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This initiative, which was launched by the UAE and is currently chaired by the UAE Space Agency, aims to provide an ecosystem to develop regional skills and competencies to work on advanced projects and sponsor initiatives and programs to prepare the next generation of space sector leaders in the region.
Countries to sign the charter are: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Iraq and Mauritania.
Saudi Arabia virtually signed the basic charter on Sunday, said the Saudi Space Agency.
"This charter aims to establish the first Arab group for space cooperation, encourage the Arab space cooperation in all space activities with common goals, achieve harmony in the regulatory practices among the space authorities, coordinate the positions of the Arab Group members to adopt a unified opinion in the regional and international forums related to the space within the limits of the tasks assigned to the group" said the Saudi statement.
Satellite 813 is the first space project launched by the Arab Space Cooperation Group, designed to monitor the Earth and measure the environmental and climatic elements in a number of Arab countries, as well as vegetation, soil types, minerals and water sources, measuring greenhouse gases, pollution and dust levels.
The satellite will be developed by Arab engineers at the state-of-the-art facilities at the National Space Science and Technology Centre at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. Satellite 813 is a call from the UAE to Arab countries to consolidate their efforts and reclaim Arab pioneering status in space sciences.
