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Abu Dhabi
The inaugural edition of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate, held under the patronage of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and organised by the UAE Space Agency, will be witnessing addresses by leaders from India, UAE and Israel. To be held in Abu Dhabi on December 5 and 6, the event will host representatives of the world's fast-growing space industry and is intended to play a role in shaping global co-operation in the human exploration of space.
"Together with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to give a video address to the gathering of global space agencies, government representatives and private sector leaders in space, avionics and defence technologies," said a statement from the UAE Government Media Office.
According to Her Excellency Sarah Bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology & Chair of the UAE Space Agency, the Abu Dhabi Space Debate aims to create a diverse and inclusive discourse that forges concrete progress in advancing international co-operation, standards and policy-setting for the global space sector.
"At a time of unprecedented global challenges, this platform has a vital role to play in forging consensus, co-operation and development in this vital sector," she said.
Speakers at the debate like strategists Dr George Friedman, founder of Geopolitical Futures, Dr Robin Geiss, Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, and William Alberque, Director of Strategy, Technology, and Arms Control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies will be joined by some 250 space agency and space sector leaders representing over 30 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the USA, India, the UK, Korea, France and Japan, private sector companies Airbus, Northrop Grumman, Thales and Amazon, legislators, academics and researchers whose work defines the future of space.
"We are delighted to be joined by representatives of the Romanian, Rwandan, Norwegian, Philippines and Portuguese space agencies, as well as global private sector pioneers. Some of the most exciting developments in the sector are now coming from these younger players and they are driving the expansion in global demand for access to space," Al Amiri added.
Geopolitical impacts of space exploration, regulation and the respective roles to be played by the public and private sectors, the stability and security of space assets in view of the political turmoil, development of national science and technology programs etc. will be discussed at the gathering of the space industry.