RIYADH, 22 December 2002 — The Kingdom has launched a third communications satellite with the help of a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan. The new satellite 1-C was put into space late Friday night and was now orbiting 650 km (400 miles) above Earth, the Saudi Press Agency said yesterday.
The satellite, which will have purely commercial, non-military activity, was designed and made by a team of Saudi scientists at the Kingdom’s institute of space research, SPA said. The Kingdom launched two satellites in September 2000 from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian military rocket.
The third satellite is part of an ambitious space research program implemented by the Institute of Space Research at the Riyadh-based King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), under the supervision of Prince Turki ibn Saud ibn Mohammed. Prince Turki, head of the Institute of Space Research, has urged private sector companies in the Kingdom to invest in satellite programs and space research projects.
The Kingdom was the second Arab country after Egypt to launch satellites. Saudi Arabia has already set up a Center for Remote Sensing and an Institute of Space Research, which are entrusted with the task of providing remote sensing technology, including satellite imagery and data, for the public and private sectors. These images and data are vital to research in areas like agriculture, geology, cartography, and natural disaster studies.
The satellite launched Friday will provide vital data on weather conditions and oil exploration, besides monitoring the movement of vehicles in remote regions of the Kingdom.
Speaking on the Kingdom’s progress in space research, Prince Turki recently said that Saudi Arabia has joined the prestigious UN committee for space research for peaceful purposes. Admission to this committee is a major achievement, for no other state will be allowed entry for the next seven years, he said.
