45BloombergBusinessweek June 29, 2020andhelackedtheadvancedtechnicalorscientificeducation
NASAtypicallysought.He’dstudiedmasscommunications
intheU.S.,thenworkedattheSaudiMinistryofInformation,
wherehisdutieshadincludedaccompanyingathletestothe
1984 SummerOlympicGamesinLosAngeles.Hewasa pilot,
though,albeita civilianone,andhespokefluentEnglish.He
wasalsothesecondsonofSalmanbinAbdulazizAlSaud,
thengovernorofRiyadhandnowSaudiArabia’sking.
Sultan’screwmateswerefiveAmericansandanotherpay-
loadspecialist,fromFrance.PublicitypicturesshowSultan
asthinanddashing,withblow-driedhairanda narrowmus-
tache.AsthefirstMuslimboundforspace,hefacedsome
uniquetheologicalchallenges.Howcouldheprayoriented
towardMecca,forexample,if hewasspeedingoverthe
planetatmorethan17,000mph?Andthefinalweeksoftrain-
ingandfirstthreemissiondayswouldfallduringRamadan.
Whenshouldhefastif each24-hourperiodcontained 16 sun-
rises?Afterconsultingwitha religiousscholar,hedecided
towakeupearlyduringastronauttrainingforhispredawn
meal,thencarryonasnormal.Inspaceheplannedtofaston
FloridatimeandprayfacingEarthasbesthecould.
Onlaunchday,heprayedona plasticmatatopthesteel
launchpadgantrybeforeboardingtheshuttle.Alongsidehis
regulationkit,hecarrieda Koranandanastrolabe—theearly
scientificinstrumentusedtocalculatethepositionsofceles-
tialbodies—inrecognitionofthemedievalIslamicastronomers
who’dnamedmanyofthestars.Inorbitheconductedexper-
iments,handedoutdatesfromMedinatohiscrewmates,and
spokewithhisfatherandKingFahdviavideolinkfora Saudi
TVbroadcast.Uponreturn,hebecameanambassadorforhis
countryandforspaceflight.HemetPresidentReagan,gave
lectures,andrecordeda videomessagefortheLiveAidcon-
cert.Inspace,Sultantoldmillionsofviewers,“youseeno
wars,nationalboundariesvanish,andtherearenofamines.”
Saudileadersdiscussed with NASAthepossibility of
placinganastronautontheshuttleeverytwoyears,but
thoseconversationsendedaftertheChallengerdisasterin
January1986.Theshuttleprogramwasgroundedforalmost
threeyears,andtheU.S.announcedit wouldleavethebusiness
oflaunchingcommercialsatellitestotheprivatesector.
TheSaudispaceprogramcarriedonlessobtrusivelyinto
theearly2000s.Thecountrystartedbuildingitsownsatel-
litesattheKingAbdulazizCityforScienceandTechnology
(KACST),remainingtheclearleaderinspaceamongtheGulf
powersuntil2004,whenitsmaingeopoliticalrival,Iran,cre-
ateditsownspaceagency.Iranputa Russian-madesatellite
inorbitthefollowingyear,thenfollowedit witha domesti-
callybuiltsatellite,aswellasmice,turtles,worms,anda cou-
pleofmonkeys.Theregionalracewason.heUAEhasharboredspacedreamsalmostsinceit was
formed.InFebruary1976,fiveyearsafterSheikhZayed
binSultanAlNahyanunitedtheTrucialStates,hemet
thethreecrewmembersofApollo17.Theastronautspre-
sentedZayed,bythentheUAE’spresident,witha fragmentofmoonrockanda modelofthespaceshuttle.Amonochrome
photograph captured the astronauts sitting at an ornate cof-
fee table with him, explaining the craft.
It wasn’t until after Zayed’s death in 2004 that the kingdom
began pursuing his ideas in earnest. When billionaire Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum became the Emirates’
vice president and prime minister a few years later, Dubai
was experiencing a building boom, drawing in foreign bank-
ers and executives eager to take advantage of favorable tax
and regulatory policies. Space technology, Emirati rulers
noted, would help the UAE decrease its reliance on oil and
build its international standing. In 2006, Maktoum founded
a space center, subsequently named after him. Three years
later the facility unveiled DubaiSat-1, a largely Korean-made
satellite. In 2013 came DubaiSat-2, this time with labor divided
evenly between the two countries, and then, five years later,
KhalifaSat, constructed entirely by Emiratis.
KhalifaSat, according to Omran Sharaf, a project manager
at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, was the UAE’s
“final examination when it comes to Earth observation mis-
sions.” I met with Sharaf and Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE minis-
ter for advanced sciences, on the 40th floor of a government
office in Dubai. Both are in their mid-30s, charming, and stag-
geringly high-achieving—exactly the image the Emirates wishes
to project. Sharaf recalled sitting at home in November 2013,
the evening before DubaiSat-2 launched, when the space cen-
ter’s director general called with an unexpected question: “Can
you look into Mars?” Sharaf replied confidently: “Sure.” Seven
weeks later, Maktoum told Sharaf and Amiri he wanted to cel-
ebrate the UAE’s 50th anniversary with a major achievement.
This time, Amiri said, the question was more direct: “Can we
get to Mars?” The answer was “an informed yes.”
The Emirates didn’t even have a space agency yet, but it
foundedtheUAESAinthesummerof2014,atthesametime
asit announceditsintentiontohavea probeorbitingMars
byDec.2, 2021. The mission, Maktoum said, would herald a
reprisaloftheArabworld’sleadingroleinadvancinghuman
knowledge.SharafbecametheprojectmanagerandAmirithe
scienceleadofa teamof 200 Emiratiacademicsandscientists.
Their task was to build a craft, named Al Amal (“Hope”), that
could study changes in the Martian atmosphere for at leastT
UAE President Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan gets a primer on the space shuttle in 1976 ▲