Hello from Abu Dhabi, مرحبا من ابو ظبي,
The sky is definitely not the limit for UAE’s space ambitions. Only a few days after the UAE Space Agency organized the first Abu Dhabi Space Debate, the “Rashid rover”, the first Emirati mission to the surface of the Moon, was successfully launched on the 11th of December by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
It is the Arab world’s first mission to the Moon, marking a historic beginning for the UAE’s long-term lunar exploration programme.
The small rover is now on its way aboard the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by Japanese lunar exploration company ispace (with offices in Luxembourg), on a journey expected to last five months. The UAE could thus become the fourth country to make it to the surface of the moon after US, Soviet Union and China.
Whereas the Emirates Mars Mission is ongoing, the UAE also announced last year a five-year exploration mission to the main asteroid belt, an asteroid landing and a Venus fly-by. The Space Agencies of Luxembourg and the UAE are striving to cooperate closer within the framework of an MOU signed in 2017. The Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) participated in the first Abu Dhabi Space Debate, together with Luxembourg companies active in the space sector in the UAE.
Meanwhile in Luxembourg, on 13 December 2022, Luxembourg’s Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, presented the national space strategy for 2023 to 2027.
Since Luxembourg joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2005, Luxembourg’s space policy and strategy have been reviewed every four to five years within the framework of the ESA Ministerial Councils.
The objective of the strategy for this period is to continue efforts made for the development of the Luxembourg space sector as a vector for the diversification and sustainability of the Luxembourg economy, but also as a major contributor to the sustainability of activities on Earth and favouring a responsible approach to activities in space.
During the press conference, Minister Fayot said: “Luxembourg’s commitment to developing a space sector dates back to the 1980s with the creation of SES. The political objective – then as now – is to make space one of the economic pillars of the country. The renewed strategy for the next five years will focus on the development of industrial skills in areas that will make it possible to contribute in part to the Sustainable Development Goals, to support Luxembourg’s development cooperation and humanitarian action, or to contribute to the development of other economic sectors of interest to the Grand Duchy.”
The 2023-27 strategy is based on four main axes: the sustainability of economic activities; the sustainability of activities on Earth; the sustainability of activities in space; the sustainable use of space resources.
The public investment necessary for the implementation of the space strategy through participation in European Space Agency (ESA) programmes as well as in the national LuxIMPULSE programme amounts during this period to a total of around €256 million, an increase of 21.6% compared to the budget for the 2020-24 period.
According to Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Economy and LSA, the investments made to date have already had a significant impact for Luxembourg with a significant growth in the number of companies and the corresponding employment.
Today, Luxembourg is home to just over 70 public and private players in the sector, compared to about 20 in 2016. In terms of employment, the latest statistics indicate that this sector employs just over 1,400 people (companies and public research organizations), i.e. a doubling of the size of the ecosystem since 2016.
In addition, the future Space Campus in Luxembourg will be exclusively dedicated to space-related activities to ensure the competitive position of companies and public research organizations in this field. The campus, whose first buildings are expected to be operational in 2026, will strengthen the visibility as well as the attractiveness of Luxembourg in the space sector.
While looking forward to many more exciting Luxembourg-UAE cooperation initiatives in the New Year, let me, on behalf of the LTIO team, convey every good wish for a happy holiday season and a peaceful 2023.
Jean-Marie Frentz
Executive Director, LTIO Abu Dhabi