DUBAI (Sputnik) – The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a strategic space partnership, the director general of the UAE Space Agency announced.
"The MoU complements the outstanding relationship between the space sectors in both countries and supports the development of a partnership in several fields and activities. It will also allow for knowledge transfer to national cadres, and benefiting of the Russian Space Agency’s expertise, especially in space technology and specialist training," Mohammad Nasser Al Ahbabi was quoted as saying by the ArabianBusiness.com news portal Saturday.
The Russian and the UAE partners also discussed the exchange of scientific data, personnel and the transfer of space technologies.
The UAE Space Agency was established in 2014 with an ambitious goal to send the Arab world’s first mission to Mars by 2021.
It will be launched to coincide with the UAE’s 50th anniversary.