SpaceOps23: How the UAE is planning to 'serve Earth and beyond' next year

The UAE will become the first Arab country to host SpaceOps23, an international forum that gives experts and organisations an opportunity to share their experiences about all aspects of space mission operations.

The forum, which will be held in March 2023, will offering discussions on state-of-the-art operations principles, methods, and tools and cover several areas, including robotics, earth-orbiting, and deep space aspects of space operations.

It started in 1990 and so far, has held 16 biennial conferences hosted by various countries around the world.

SpaceOps, which serves the space operations community, works in the following areas:

- Operations-enabling technology in ground and flight systems

- Operations management

- Mission planning

- Mission management

- Cross support and interoperability

- Launch operations

- Spaceflight operations

Why is SpaceOps23 special?

Even though the UAE had won the rights to host the event in 2018, it was slated to be held last year and now rescheduled for next year. This will be the 17th edition of the biennial event, whose dates had to be rescheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Where and when will it be held?

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre is organising the summit. The theme of the five-day event is 'Invest in Space to Serve Earth and Beyond' and it will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from March 5 to 9.

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A feather in the UAE’s space ambitions

In 2020, the UAE hosted the International Astronautical Congress, the world’s largest space conference. The participants included heads of major space agencies and private companies, such as American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.

• Dubai