‘UAE Astronaut Programme’ receives 1,000 applications

DUBAI / Emirates Business

Following the announcement from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) is now accepting entries for the UAE Astronaut Programme. At the end of 2018, four carefully selected Emirati candidates will be chosen to form the UAE Astronaut team and undergo a three-year long intensive training programme to enable them to board the International Space Station (ISS).
The UAE Astronaut Programme has received more than 1,000 applications of enthusiasts, only few days after the announcement. Young Emiratis – including all fields – ex-pilots, doctors, scientists, teachers and others – can register at www.mbrsc.ae /astronauts. Finalists will go through training in theory and science, as well as specialty qualification courses, over several months and in accordance with the highest international standards and requirements. The team of four young Emirati astronauts who will be sent to space as part of the country’s growing space exploration programme segues with its overall strategy to integrate advanced sciences into its national growth matrix.
Commenting on the initiative, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, said: “The UAE Astronaut Programme is a boundless ambition that showcases the UAE’s ongoing investment in science programmes to help serve national interests in the future, actively participating in global space exploration, and exploring the prospects of human life in space, including the possibility of inhabiting other planets.”
Young Emirati men and women who like to enroll for the UAE Astronaut Programme should register through the Mohammed Bin
Rashid Space Center website at www.mbrsc.ae/astronauts.