Historic Pact!! UAE, Israel agrees to boost space cooperation

By Amirtha P S, Desk Reporter
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UAE Space Agency
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The UAE Space Agency has entered into an agreement with the Israel Space Agency to boost the cooperation in the areas of scientific research, space exploration and knowledge transfer to accelerate economic growth and human progress.

Ms. Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ms. Orit Farkash Hacohen, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology of Israel, during Expo 2020 Dubai’s Space Week, held in association with the UAE Space Agency.

The MoU will lay the framework for a mutually beneficial strategic partnership that will strengthen efforts to gather and analyze scientific space data. Both parties will intensify collaboration and cooperation in a wide range of strategic fields, such as exploration, research, data analysis, education, and more.

Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri
Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri
Chairwoman
UAE Space Agency

“Sharing knowledge and expertise is a key part of the UAE’s vision to create an attractive and competitive national space industry. If you look at the most successful global space programs in history, the common denominator is collaboration. Israel has a globally recognized space industry and developing bilateral and multilateral partnerships has never been so important as we embrace a new era of space exploration.”

Ms. Farkash-Hacohen said, “Governments sign agreements but people and collaborations are the ones that truly make peace. Israel is an international leader in the worlds of research, space, science and hi-tech. Today on behalf of the Government of Israel, I am pleased to sign a series of agreements for cooperation with the UAE Space Agency in important and groundbreaking fields. I thank the Minister of Advanced Technology Ms. Sarah Al Amiri for the significant, collaborative work done in the last year between the two agencies.”

As part of the landmark agreement, UAE will exchange research and develop scientific instruments for Israel’s Beresheet-2 mission to land a spacecraft on the Moon by 2024.

Universities in Israel and the UAE will also launch collaborative research projects, which include exploring the red tide phenomenon, analyzing red palm weevil infestation which threatens date palm cultivation, and mapping aerosols, solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere. Vegetation and environmental data gathered by a microsatellite used by the Israel Space Agency and the French Space Agency will also be shared with the UAE.

Related: UAE explores ways to strengthen economic ties with Israel

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