Inaugural Global Space Congress to shed light on growing UAE space sector

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, the UAE Space Agency will be hosting the inaugural Global Space Congress (GSC) in Abu Dhabi.
As investments from the UAE in the space sector surpass 20 million AED, the UAE Space Agency continues with its drive towards developing international connections and increasing knowledge transfer within the industry. Therefore, the Global Space Congress (GSC), which will take place from 31 January to 1 February 2017 at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi, will be a significant global platform for emerging space programmes to connect, collaborate and engage with the international space business community.
According to The Space Foundation, the global space industry is worth more than $330 billion worldwide with commercial space activities making up more than 76% of the global space economy. International space players are increasingly looking towards cooperation and partnership and the UAE is leading the Middle East region in terms of driving space activities and building global space agreements.
GSC will address both upstream and downstream issues and will be one of the few international space forums being held in the region. It will work towards promoting space technology development and analysing up and coming commercial space strategies.
H.E Dr Khalifa Al Romaithi, Chairman of the UAE Space Agency commented: “We are excited to announce the first Global Space Congress and we believe that Abu Dhabi is well suited to host an international forum that will address the major developments happening in the space industry worldwide. Our vision is to develop an innovative and thriving space industry that allows sector leaders to collaborate and work together to achieve success and bring benefits to mankind. GSC will be the ideal opportunity for knowledge transfer and exchange of best practices and an international event of this calibre will help us in achieving our vision.”
H.E Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency added: “Our presence within the space industry is growing and we are working on creating international networks and enterprises. The Global Space Congress has developed as an evolution from The Global Space and Satellite Forum which has been held in the UAE in previous years into what will be the must attend space forum of the year. International experts in space will converge on Abu Dhabi early next year to learn about the fast-paced changes happening in space exploration and the impact they are having. As part of our international work we are committed to engagement with high-level space organisations and it is fantastic that we are developing such associates. The Global Space Congress is central to the UAE Space Agency market development and outreach initiatives.”