UAE’s major technological breakthroughs

It is a coincidence that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed two of the major technological advances on the same day, one on the space front with the launch of the powerful satellite named after President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, “MBZ-SAT” in California, and the launch of the largest solar power and battery energy saving device which supplies 1 gigawatt (GW) of uninterrupted power in Abu Dhabi.

MBZ-SAT was developed by UAE engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). It will enable the country to manage disasters with greater control and efficiency as well as help improve the quality of life.

The satellite is capable of relaying images continuously with a higher resolution of less than a metre. This increased capacity is a boost to the UAE’s space programme. It is putting the space facility to improve the country’s ability to gather more information through images in managing things.

Satellite communication is one of the most effective ways of gathering quick information and relaying it back to earth. The satellite was launched by ‘Falcon 9’ of Space X from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This is a major step forward in the UAE’s space programme.

The launch of the satellite was announced in 2020 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It was officially approved for launch by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and president of MBRSC, last year.

The launch of the renewable energy facility marks a radical breakthrough at a time when climate change crisis is looming large on the horizon. The launch was announced in the presence of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed by Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), and Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment and Managing Director and Group Chief of Abu Dhabi Holding Company, PJSC.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said on the occasion, “For decades, the biggest barrier facing renewable energy has been intermittency – to be able to source uninterrupted clean power day and night. This has been the moonshot challenge of our time and now, thanks to the resolute support of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with this groundbreaking project we have found the solution. In collaboration with EWEC and our partners, we will develop a renewable energy facility capable of providing clean energy round the clock. For the first time ever, this will transform renewable energy into a world-leading IGW of reliable base-load energy every day on an unprecedented scale – a first step that could become a giant leap for the world.”

The UAE is undertaking transformative steps in the field of technology because the leadership believes that the solutions to the challenges that the people of UAE and rest of the world face are to be found in advances in technology. And the country has been making a brisk progress on the technology front by indigenising research capabilities and keeping the doors open to global talent and expertise.

This is an act of goodwill at a time when many countries, including the advanced economies, are raising tariff walls and limiting the flow of immigrants. The UAE is taking the lead in pushing the frontiers of technology for the welfare of people. Many countries in the past have only strengthened their scientific and technological capabilities to assert their national superiority. The UAE wants to use knowledge for improving the lives of all the people, in the UAE and elsewhere.