UAE Establishes $817 Mln Fund to Support Space Sector

An Emirati television journalist works on a script as a graphic showing the Emirates' Hope space probe to Mars flashes past him on a screen, at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, July 19, 2020. (AP)

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday launched a 3 billion UAE dirham ($816.84 million) fund to support its space program and a new initiative to develop radar satellites, the Gulf country's president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said on Twitter.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed, meanwhile, said the fund aims to supporting the establishment of national companies in the space sector and boost national strategic and research projects.