Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan said it was an “important milestone” for the UAE.

Space fans of the UAE, here’s a date to put in your diaries: The first satellite built entirely by Emirati engineers will be launched into space on October 29.

KhalifaSat, which has been in development since 2013, will rocket into the skies from the Tanegashima Space Centre, the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan. The earth observation satellite will join the UAE’s two imaging satellites that are already in orbit, DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2.

The satellite was designed, tested, built and managed by Emirati engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre’s Advanced Technology Laboratories, making it the first space machine to be developed in the facility.

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“Proud of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, where a team made up entirely of young Emirati engineers have developed the first Emirati satellite, KhalifaSat,” HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, wrote on Twitter.

“This is an important milestone for our country, an achievement made possible because our leadership supports Emirati youth and encourages them to excel in the fields of innovation and technological development.”

MISSION TO MARS

The UAE has a series of space projects in the works, including a plan to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2020.

And last year, the UAE’s rulers revealed they want to establish the first inhabitable human settlement in Mars by 2117.

“The new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge,” HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, said at the time.

“The landing of people on other planets has been a longtime dream for humans. Our aim is that the UAE will spearhead international efforts to make this dream a reality.”

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