Page 67 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2020

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Mohamed Bin Zayed-Sat: Sheikh Mohammed Announces New UAE Satellite

The satellite bears the initials of His
Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. A new satellite will be built in
the UAE and it will be called MBZ-Sat, His
Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,
announced on Wednesday. The satellite
bears the initials of His Highness Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme
Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Taking to Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed
said this satellite technology will be the
latest in the region and the team behind
the project will be 100 per cent Emirati.
The UAE Vice-President said this satellite
will be used for civilian and commercial
purposes. “Its name will be MBZ-sat.
The previous satellite was named Khalifa a five-year mission to capture and in July this year. Cruising through space,
Sat, and this one will be named after transmit high-quality, detailed images of the orbited is nearing the halfway mark
my brother Mohammed bin Zayed, may Earth back to the Mohammed Bin Rashid in its journey towards the Red Planet. The
Allah protect him,” Sheikh Mohammed Space Centre in Dubai. The UAE launched country sent its first astronaut to space
tweeted. KhalifaSat was the first satellite its National Space Program as part of the on September 25, 2019. Emirati astronaut
that had been 100 per cent designed country’s ambitious space program of Hazzaa Al Mansoori went on the eight-day
and manufactured in the UAE. One of the reaching Mars by 2021 and building the mission on board the Russian spacecraft
world’s most advanced remote sensing first settlement there by 2117. Its Mars Soyuz MS-15 to the International Space
observation satellites, it was launched into probe, Hope, has now travelled over 200 Station.
low Earth orbit in October 2018, beginning million kilometers since it was launched

Mexican and South African Companies Take Part in Satellite Project

The past few days have brought more news HyperActive aims to evaluate market gain X-band antenna and transmitter to
of the HyperActive program, expected to interest for hyperspectral imaging data send the data back to Earth are products
launch in mid-2021, whose primary aim captured and processed as part of the of the consortium’s partner CubeCom,
is a flight demonstration of hyperspectral program. The consortium partners for also from South Africa. Responsible for
imaging and communication payloads. this international collaboration comprise processing the collected hyperspectral
NanoAvionics, a leading nanosatellite bus a number of players from both South data and distributing it to interested parties
manufacturer and mission integrator, has Africa and Mexico. Dragonfly Aerospace around the world is Space JLTZ, a space
revealed the remaining three payloads is a South African space company company from Mexico. The generated
of its D-2/AtlaCom-1 rideshare mission focused on creating high-performance data can be used to protect populations
hosted on board its M6P 6U nanosatellite imaging payloads that are designed against natural disasters, and to develop
bus. The additional payloads, a camera for for compact satellites enabling large innovation solutions to optimize various
hyperspectral remote sensing, a new high- imaging constellations. A key instrument industries, among many other uses. The
gain X-band antenna and an upgraded of the program is the Mantis imager, a other partners are NanoAvionics of the US
X-Band downlink transmitter, are all hyperspectral camera for remote sensing as a supplier to the consortium, as well
part of the HyperActive collaboration. developed by Dragonfly Aerospace, which as a mission contributor from Mexico, the
As well as demonstrating hyperspectral will also provide an X-band data download Polytechnical University of Atlacomulco.
imaging and communication payloads ground station for the mission. The high-

67 SEP-OCT 2020