Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) next week will launch a satellite into space from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome on a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket, the Government of Dubai Media Office said Tuesday.
“On June 27th at 3:34 pm #UAE time [11:34 GMT], .@MBRSpaceCentre will launch its maiden mission, PHI-Demo, from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome using the Soyuz-2 rocket as part of the Payload Hosting Initiative,” the office tweeted.
The office added that the initiative will be jointly led by MBRSC and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, which will be “at the forefront of global collaborations, providing space access and hastening the sustainable progression of novel space technologies.”
MBRSC said on Twitter that the modular satellite platform was created in 2022 as part of the Payload Hosting Initiative in partnership with the world’s first global satellite 5G operator, OQ Technology, and SteamJet, which will deliver an Internet of Things (IoT) communication payload that will store and forward data collected from Internet-connected devices located in remote areas using 5G into orbit.
MBRSC Director General Salem Al Marri tweeted that PHI-Demo ” is a 100% Emirati developed satellite with all its mechanical components completed in the #UAE in collaboration with the private sector.” He added that the initiative’s goal is to “ensure access for everyone to take part in the development and exploration journey.”
The Russian authorities have earlier said that PHI-Demo would be an additional payload during the launch of a Meteor-M weather satellite. A Russian government decree published in early June read that 42 small satellites, including one from each Belarus, Malaysia and the UAE, would be carried by the rocket.
Since 2006, the UAE has launched several satellites into space. In 2020, the UAE launched the Al Amal space probe, also known as the Hope Probe, to Mars to study the climatic conditions on the planet.
