RIYADH, 18 July — In a major effort to use satellites for commercial and scientific applications, Saudi Arabia is planning to launch its third satellite from a Russian rocket later this year. This will be part of an ambitious space research program currently being 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. "The two satellites launched successfully by the Kingdom in the past have been designed by Saudi scientists, who have been trained inside the country and abroad", said Prince Turki, head of the KACST’s Institute of Space Research, in a statement here.
He called on the Kingdom’s private sector companies to invest in satellite programs and space research projects.
The Kingdom is 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 researches in areas like agriculture, geology, mapping and natural disaster studies.
The third satellite to be launched by Saudi Arabia can provide vital data on weather conditions and oil exploration besides monitoring the movement of vehicles in remote regions of the Kingdom.
On the Kingdom’s progress in space research in the recent past, Prince Turki said Saudi Arabia has joined the prestigious UN committee for space research for peaceful purposes following the approval from member states.
The admission to this UN committee itself is a major achievement as no other state will be allowed to join this club for the next seven years, he said.
The Kingdom has undertaken several research projects in remote sensing and space research. It has already completed an important study on the Red Sea fish resources and another on environmental pollution in the country. An exploratory study project on the mineral resources has also been implemented by the specialized scientific institutes at KACST in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals. KACST has also been involved in a number of major government projects including the establishment of a network of earthquake monitoring stations. This project called the ‘Saudi Arabian National Digital Seismographic Network’ seeks to monitor regional seismic activities.
The Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics at KACST is the only authorized entity to monitor and report about any seismic activity to the Saudi government.
