UAE and Israel Enter into a Historic Space Agreement

In recent news, the UAE and the State of Israel entered into a cooperation and exploration agreement for historic space. The contract was signed at World Space Week, which was a part of Expo Dubai for the year 2020. 

Orit Farkash, the Israeli minister for Science, Technology, and Space, as well as Sarah Al Amiri, the Minister of State for Advanced Technology in the UAE, were the ones who put their signatures on the document at the week-long Expo Dubai. 

In addition to the umbrella agreement, two other particular cooperation projects were also signed. One of these is the Beresheet 2, the mission to the moon, whereas the other is concerned with revolutionary scientific research. This is based on Venus, a satellite project of Israel and French, along with its data. 

The Beresheet 2 is a symbol of the country’s second attempt at successfully launching and completing a lunar mission. The first attempt was named Beresheet, which is the first word in the holy book of Torah. It means ‘in the beginning’ and was launched in the year 2019, with the aim of making a landing on the moon. The mission made the Jewish State the fourth country in the world to try and make a successful landing on the moon. 

As per the agreement related to the Venus satellite, experts will be employed to examine any phenomena that pertain to the resources on Earth, desertification, as well as precision agriculture. They will also monitor bodies of water, while conducting additional research. By being consistent in its examination of the Earth, Venus will analyze the link that water bodies, desertification, and agriculture share with climate change. These issues are common in both the UAE and Israel and stand to serve both countries. 

Moreover, the two will work together to promote a project, which will receive participation from Jewish and Arab students, belonging to the two countries. The project originally started as an educational initiative for students studying at Nazareth Space Center, to aid them in their study of astronomy and satellite engineering. However, it is now being promoted between Israel and UAE, as the two countries try to determine the exact time of the birth of the moon. 

Just last year, the two nations had brokered a historic peace deal. This made the current deal the fifteenth agreement to have been signed, ever since peace was established between the Jewish State and Emirates. 

Morris Kahn, the chairman of SpaceIL, stated that it would be brilliant if the two countries together could come up with a space program that combines the best of the Arab and Jewish world. He said he was open to receiving innovative ideas and implementing them, given that they aligned with the individual space programs that the countries are developing. 

Kahn went on to praise the efforts made by professionals in Emirates, who managed to come up with an ‘ambitious program’. He expressed that he was impressed upon being informed about some of its details.