UAE to launch it's first satellite from Russia

{image-UAE flag_17112008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Dubai, Nov 17: The UAE is to launch its first satellite from a Russian cosmodrome that will enable the government to better plan by tracking and mapping the country's changing landscape minute by minute.

At the Global Space Technology Forum in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Nov 16, Programme Managers said the eight million dollar satellite would be launched in six months from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, the National daily said. The satellite is ready since July, but sending it into space has been subject to a series of delays. Salem al Marri, Manager of the DubaiSat-1 programme, said a difficult part of the job was the logistics involved in the launch.

With an estimated costs of Dh 146,900 (US 40,000 dollar) for every kilogram being sent into space, the 200 kg DubaiSat-1 could cost at least Dh 29.4 million to launch.

The Emirates Institution of Advanced Science and Technology, which was established by a Dubai government decree in 2006 and oversaw the building of the satellite, refused to confirm the cost of building it.

UNI