MUST-READS

• Who’s Who: Abdullah Al-Ajmi, space business development director for Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia

  Abdullah Al-Ajmi is the space business development director for Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia. He is responsible for coordinating and bolstering the Kingdom’s space efforts. In addition to fostering strategic cooperation between government and commercial enterprises, Al-Ajmi oversees the facilitation of scientific experiments and international research collaborations, as well as the administration of future space-related missions. A retired brigadier general of the Royal Saudi Air Force and Ministry of Defense, he has a wealth of expertise and experience in remote sensing and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and space systems.

• Saudi Arabia to Launch a Centre for Space Futures in the Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network
  The World Economic Forum has signed an agreement with the Saudi Space Agency to establish a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) focused on space.
  The Centre for Space Futures, set to open in autumn 2024, will be hosted by the Saudi Space Agency. It aims to facilitate public-private discussions on space collaboration, incorporating best practices from the Forum and its communities into the global space sector and generating contributions to accelerate space technologies.

• Saudi Arabia and the UAE Spur a Gulf States Space Race

  The Gulf Cooperation Council states are on a transformative journey, tapping into sectors like renewable energies, sports, entertainment and tourism to diversify their traditionally hydrocarbon-dependent economies. This path has already led them to broaden their diplomatic horizons beyond their own territorial limits. Now, with space as their next grand venture, it is taking them beyond the very bounds of Earth itself. The GCC states’ ambitious space programs are driven by domestic economic ambitions and commercial interests, with key ongoing projects like the futuristic smart cities of Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates and NEOM in Saudi Arabia relying on space applications and AI technologies. But the emerging space race is also a matter of national pride. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia aim to advance their space programs to enhance their global prestige and soft power. Both have made big moves in the space sector to complement their respective long-term visions, but also as part of a competitive rivalry.

• The $164,000 space balloon flight preparing to rise from Saudi Arabia

  A balloon flight into space to see an awe-inspiring sunrise from high above the Earth will be tested in Saudi Arabia this summer.

  The uncrewed test is part of preparations to offer $164,000 passenger flights from 2026 – with Saudi Arabia pencilled in as one of four commercial launch sites.

  Passengers will take off before dawn for a luxury four-hour trip offering fine dining in the stratosphere and a gentle return to Earth.

• Saudi Arabia’s air and space forces merger to happen this year: Sources

  Saudi Arabia plans to merge its air and space forces into a single organization sometime this year, three Saudi military officials told Breaking Defense, in part of what experts say is an ambitious but ultimately long-term plan for the Kingdom to develop robust space-based defense capabilities. While plans can always change, one of the Saudi Ministry of Defense officials — who like the others spoke with Breaking Defense on the condition of anonymity at the World Defense Show outside Riyadh earlier this year — said, “We need space for deterrence. In 2024, MoD will merge air and space forces to defend the assets it has.”

• Saudi Arabia’s Upcoming National Space Strategy a Blueprint for Growth

  The Saudi space sector generated USD400 million in 2022. That figure is expected to reach USD2.2 billion by 2030. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, a national blueprint for diversifying and growing the country’s economy, highlights the space sector’s role in growing the economy. The Saudi Space Agency says there is a strong emphasis in the country on space research and innovation for peaceful purposes. There is also an eye on the commercial opportunities, including space tourism.

• Saudi Arabia to launch stratosphere space tourism by 2026

  In a move poised to revolutionize the global tourism industry, Saudi Arabia is set to become a hub for space tourism, providing adventurers the chance to venture into the stratosphere by 2026. This groundbreaking initiative, offered at a cost of $164,000 per person, is being facilitated by Halo Space, a Madrid-based pioneer in the field of space tourism founded in 2021. The company has chosen Saudi Arabia as one of its prime departure points, with a scheduled test flight in June marking a significant milestone ahead of commercial operations. This test flight, which has received conditional approval from Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space & Technology Commission, will be Halo Space’s sixth, reaching an altitude of 32km above the Earth.

• HALO Space gears up for groundbreaking test flight in Saudi Arabia this June

  HALO Space, a leading company in the near space tourism sector, has revealed plans for its sixth test flight to take place in Saudi Arabia this June, pending approval from the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST)—the regulatory body for space activities in Saudi Arabia. This event marks a crucial step for both the company and the industry, as it will be the first instance where all the technologies behind HALO Space’s zero-emission flight are tested simultaneously, an achievement unparalleled by any other company in the field. The upcoming test will feature the launch of HALO’s second full-scale prototype capsule to a height of 32 kilometers above the Earth, further advancing their ambitions in stratospheric commercial flights.

• Saudi Arabia to monitor sustainability strategy from space

  Saudi Arabia is looking to tap into the Earth observation market for enhanced environmental monitoring across the kingdom, a Saudi space official has said. The efforts would help the country track the impact of its Green Initiative, a plan to plant 10 billion trees in the coming years, is having on the kingdom's weather and if it is helping to fight climate change. Mishaal Ashemimry, adviser to the chief executive of the Saudi Space Agency, told The National the kingdom was looking to build assets in space and details, including how many satellites would feature in the plan, would be released in a new space strategy at a later date.

• Saudi Space Agency Partners With LeoLabs and NorthStar for SSA

  On the sidelines of the Space Debris Conference in Riyadh, the Saudi Space Agency signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Leo Labs and NorthStar, respectively. The MoU with Leo Labs aims to build a cooperative relationship in the field of space monitoring. Both agreements aim to exchange expertise and knowledge related to space situational awareness and explore future collaboration opportunities between the Saudi Space Agency and both NorthStar and LeoLabs.

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