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UAE Signs Agreement to Send Emirati Astronaut to ISS for 182 Days

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc. WAM
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc. WAM
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UAE Signs Agreement to Send Emirati Astronaut to ISS for 182 Days

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc. WAM
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc. WAM

The United Arab Emirates has announced the launch of a new space mission to the International Space Station that will last for six months.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc., a leading human spaceflight and infrastructure company.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said: "We launched the 'UAE Astronaut program' more than five years ago. The UAE sent the first Arab astronaut on a historic trip to the International Space Station... Today we announce a new cooperation between the UAE and the United States of America to send an Emirati astronaut on the first long-term mission aboard the International Space Station".

"Signing the agreement to send the first Arab astronaut in a long-term mission of 180 days to the International Space Station is new milestone for the UAE space sector. The UAE will be among 11 countries in the world that carried out long-term space missions."
He said the UAE space sector is constantly evolving. “The new mission will add new experiences and knowledge to Emirati astronaut and the scientific community.”

The deal will further strengthen collaboration between the MBRSC and the American space agency NASA, as the two entities will collaborate extensively over the duration of the 6-month mission. MBRSC currently has four Astronauts training at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, this training will prepare them for long duration human spaceflight.

The agreement between MBRSC and Axiom Space was signed at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, and Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Chairman, MBRSC, and Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Deputy Chairman, MBRSC, along with astronauts Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla all attended the signing ceremony.

The agreement was signed by both parties: Salem Al-Marri, Director General of the Centre, on behalf of the Centre, and Michael Suffredini, President and CEO of Axiom Space.

The planned space mission to the ISS will include an Emirati astronaut and his counterparts from the US. The team will be conducting experiments and managing the operations of the station. They will be welcomed onboard the space station by a team of Russian cosmonauts as well as American and European astronauts.

On board the ISS, the Emirati astronaut will conduct a series of complex and advanced experiments, and in depth public outreach and education program requiring a longer stay of 180 days until September 2023. The results of his mission are expected to have significant impacts that will benefit the global space community.

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Varieties

Solar Power Companies Are Growing Fast in Africa, Where 600 Million Still Lack Electricity

A young man stands by a community radio station solar setup sponsored by a German NGO in Gushegu northern, Ghana, Friday Sept. 6, 2024. (AP)
A young man stands by a community radio station solar setup sponsored by a German NGO in Gushegu northern, Ghana, Friday Sept. 6, 2024. (AP)
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Solar Power Companies Are Growing Fast in Africa, Where 600 Million Still Lack Electricity

A young man stands by a community radio station solar setup sponsored by a German NGO in Gushegu northern, Ghana, Friday Sept. 6, 2024. (AP)
A young man stands by a community radio station solar setup sponsored by a German NGO in Gushegu northern, Ghana, Friday Sept. 6, 2024. (AP)

Companies that bring solar power to some of the poorest homes in Central and West Africa are said to be among the fastest growing on a continent whose governments have long struggled to address some of the world's worst infrastructure and the complications of climate change.

The often African-owned companies operate in areas where the vast majority of people live disconnected from the electricity grid, and offer products ranging from solar-powered lamps that allow children to study at night to elaborate home systems that power kitchen appliances and plasma televisions. Prices range from less than $20 for a solar-powered lamp to thousands of dollars for home appliances and entertainment systems.

Central and West Africa have some of the world’s lowest electrification rates. In West Africa, where 220 million people live without power, this is as low as 8%, according to the World Bank. Many rely on expensive kerosene and other fuels that fill homes and businesses with fumes and risk causing fires.

At the last United Nations climate summit, the world agreed on the goal of tripling the capacity for renewable power generation by 2050. While the African continent is responsible for hardly any carbon emissions relative to its size, solar has become one relatively cost-effective way to provide electricity.

The International Energy Agency, in a report earlier this year, said small and medium-sized solar companies are making rapid progress reaching homes but more needs to be invested to reach all African homes and businesses by 2030.

About 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, it said, out of a population of more than 1.3 billion.

Among the companies that made the Financial Times' annual ranking of Africa's fastest growing companies of 2023 was Easy Solar, a locally owned firm that brings solar power to homes and businesses in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The ranking went by compound annual growth rate in revenue.

Co-founder Nthabiseng Mosia grew up in Ghana with frequent power cuts. She became interested in solving energy problems in Africa while at graduate school in the United States. Together with a US classmate, she launched the company in Sierra Leone with electrification rates among the lowest in West Africa.

"There wasn’t really anybody doing solar at scale. And so we thought it was a good opportunity,” Mosia said in an interview.

Since launching in 2016, Easy Solar has brought solar power to over a million people in Sierra Leone and Liberia, which have a combined population of more than 14 million. The company’s network includes agents and shops in all of Sierra Leone’s 16 districts and seven of nine counties in Liberia.

Many communities have been connected to a stable source of power for the first time. “We really want to go to the last mile deep into the rural areas,” Mosia said.

The company began with a pilot project in Songo, a community on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. Uptake was slow at first, Mosia said. Villagers worried about the cost of solar-powered appliances, but once they began to see light in their neighbors’ homes at night, more signed on.

“We have long forgotten about kerosene,” said Haroun Patrick Samai, a Songo resident and land surveyor. “Before Easy Solar we lived in constant danger of a fire outbreak from the use of candles and kerosene."

Altech, a solar power company based in Congo, also ranked as one of Africa's fastest growing companies. Fewer than 20% of the population in Congo has access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Co-founders Washikala Malango and Iongwa Mashangao fled conflict in Congo's South Kivu province as children and grew up in Tanzania. They decided to launch the company in 2013 to help solve the power problems they had experienced growing up in a refugee camp, relying on kerosene for power and competing with family members for light to study at night.

Altech now operates in 23 out of 26 provinces in Congo, and the company expects to reach the remaining ones by the end of the year. Its founders say they have sold over 1 million products in Congo in a range of solar-powered solutions for homes and businesses, including lighting, appliances, home systems and generators.

“For the majority of our customers, this is the first time they are connected to a power source,” Malango said.

Repayment rates are over 90%, Malango said, helped in part by a system that can turn off power to appliances remotely if people don't pay.