DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates is engaged in ongoing discussions with the U.S. to find solutions on export control of technology and knowledge to help the UAE’s nascent space program.
Mohammad Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency, told a small group in Dubai Nov. 9 that the two nations have established a joint committee to find ways the UAE can still develop its knowledge base, despite restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) export regime.
“We have a joint committee with [the] U.S., present with [the] UAE and [the] U.S. government, talking about space and how to ease export control and how to build trust,” Al Ahbabi said. “Because that problem is not one side. We understand the concerns, but also, we would like to educate people.”
Traditionally, the U.S. has carefully guarded its space secrets. However, the UAE is hoping to bring in a significant amount of space knowledge through local offsets from U.S. companies.
Al Ahbabi’s point, reiterated multiple times during his keynote address at a conference hosted by Offsets 2000 — happening concurrently with the Dubai Airshow — is that the UAE is looking to learn from the U.S. to become “a global citizen.”
“We also face some challenges, especially when it comes to knowledge and technology transfer,” he said. “Today, if I went to acquire certain technology, some countries — especially in [the] US — the ITAR is limiting, not only for emerging space nation[s], but also for American industry as well, because I can’t get this product somewhere else without ITAR, even if I want to engage with U.S.-based companies.”
The UAE has set an aggressive timeline for its Mission to Mars program, one that aims to have an Emeriti system on the planet by 2021. But the goal of the UAE’s nascent space agency is wider than simply travelling to the stars, officials said at the conference.
“Going to Mars is not the [only] objective here,” said Omran Sharaf, program manager for the Mission to Mars team, citing a “much bigger objective” of building up an interest in science and technology among local youth.
“There are more than 200 million youth in this region. They have two options: Either join ISIS or starve to death,” Sharaf said. “We need to show them you can get your countries out of the situation you are in, and through that, we are trying to give them examples.”
He also stressed the need to bring in scientific expertise from outside nations and inject it into local education, because “if you want to be compared to developed nations, you need to have an established science and technology sector.”
Email: amehta@defensenews.com
Twitter: @AaronMehta
