Saudi Arabia and UK Cooperate in Space Economy and Technologies

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), Eng. Abdullah Amer Al-Sawaha meets with the British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng. (SPA)

During the meeting, according to the Saudi Press Agency, the two sides stressed the importance of stimulating the participation of the two countries’ private sector in the area of space economy and promoting investment in developing human capabilities.

This visit comes within the framework of the SSC’s endeavor to build effective international partnerships in this field to enhance the Commission’s role and support its steps towards achieving its strategic goals for the Saudi space sector, which represents a national priority. It also aims to contribute to the Kingdom’s transformation towards an innovation-based and economy, stimulating investment, opening new markets that would be a source of economic diversification, and creating new jobs. Moreover, it seeks to achieve leadership positions for the Kingdom to be driven by qualitative achievements in the fields of space economy.

Moreover, the Kingdom seeks to make the space sector a major contributor to its prosperity and leadership and achieve the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. This will be fulfilled through the development and organization of the sector and the provision of enablers to achieve pioneering achievements to be reflected in the local economy, creating new industries and markets.

To achieve these goals, the Kingdom announced in July of this year the launch of the first Saudi program for external scholarship, ending with employment in the field of space. It will provide phenomenal educational opportunities for Saudi male and female students by studying space-related sciences in the most prominent 30 universities worldwide. This comes as part of the comprehensive development plans for the space sector in the Kingdom.