UAE may launch its first satellite in 2018

United Arab Emirates expects to launch the first artificial Earth satellite of its own production in the summer of 2018, said in an interview with RIA Novosti General Director of Space Agency of the UAE Mohammed Nasser al-Ahbabi.
 
«Next year, Emirates will launch a satellite for a photo shoot Khalifa-Sat, which is entirely made in the UAE…. Emirati engineers. I think it will be launched in the summer of 2018,» said al-Ahbabi.
 
He said that for the production of satellites, the UAE began to cooperate with other countries, including South Korea, where for five years the UAE has sent engineers for training. The first Emirati satellite was made in Korea, but for the second — DubaiSat — half created in the UAE.
 
According to al-Ahbabi, another UAE Yahsat communications satellite that will cover South America and scheduled to launch in the summer of 2018. In addition, six satellites have to be created in the next three years.

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