Recently, Dr. Hashoud Hashmi from Ain University in the United Arab Emirates revealed that the UAE will launch its first navigation satellite in 2021 and will launch navigation satellites in the future according to the situation. This is also another country after India to announce the establishment of a global navigation system.In recent years, the United Arab Emirates has continuously increased its investment in its aerospace sector. On July 20th, the United Arab Emirates' Mars probe Hope successfully launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan aboard an H-2A carrier rocket, and after flying 1 million kilometers, returned the first distant photo of Mars. This is one step faster than China's Tianwen-1 and the United States' Perseverance.

    Building one's own satellite navigation system can avoid being "choked" by others. Just like China's Beidou system, both in the civilian and military fields, after the successful establishment and official launch of the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system, the situation of being controlled by others has been completely avoided. Just like India's IRNSS and Japan's QZSS, the UAE's claim to establish its own navigation system also captures the current trend of countries developing their own satellite navigation systems.However, although the United Arab Emirates does not have much trouble with research and development funding, they, like countries such as India that are developing satellite navigation systems, have too many technological shortcomings.Taking the "Hope" spacecraft as an example, the previously launched Mars probe had its detection payload handled by the United States, and the final assembly and manufacturing of the probe were also carried out by the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado in the United States. The UAE team was deeply involved in the development work. This' deep involvement 'shows that the current UAE and even the entire Arab world do not have a strong and solid foundation in space technology.The first navigation satellite of the United Arab Emirates, which will be launched in 2021, is also a collaborative project funded by the UAE Space Agency with technical support from Airbus. It is reported that the first two satellites of the United Arab Emirates are also experimental satellites aimed at practicing technology and cultivating the development capabilities of UAE researchers, and will not be immediately added to the navigation system. If the first two satellites are successful, the project may be further expanded.

    In addition to solving technical problems, the orbit and frequency resources of satellites are also a major issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Back then, Beidou also obtained valuable resources in a thrilling moment of racing against time. Whether the United Arab Emirates can obtain scarce resources is also an unknown factor, after all, this is not something that money can solve.It cannot be denied that the decision to build and develop a global satellite navigation system is very forward-looking. But technology and talent are the foundation of future aerospace development!

    Source: Today's Beidou 

    It cannot be denied that the decision to build and develop a global satellite navigation system is very forward-looking. But technology and talent are the foundation of future aerospace development!