The Middle East and the final frontier

In the first week of February, a mysterious monolith was discovered in the province of Sanliurfa, Turkey. Though it vanished four days later, its cryptic inscription, “Look at the sky, see the moon”, resurfaced on February 10, during President Erdogan’s unveiling of his country’s ambitious 10-year space programme. The sarsen was in fact a publicity tactic to highlight Ankara’s plans of competing with other spacefaring nations. The first goal is to make contact with the moon in 2023 — the year marking 100 years since the founding of the Turkish republic. Other aims include sending Turkish astronauts into space, building a spaceport and developing sophisticated satellite technology.

There is no doubt that President Erdogan has sought to re-establish Turkey as a significant player on the world stage. The Turkish Space Agency (TUA) was founded in December 2018, but the project’s complexity and the country’s economic crisis made it hard to get it off ground. Successful expansion of the TUA will include the country among the few nations capable of space exploration.

In current times, space — or the final frontier — is becoming an essential sector of the global economy and unquestionably the future combat zone for nation states as well as a new arena for potential development. The Middle East is evidence of this. In a region which has always been characterised with conflicts vis-à-vis land and sea between different powers, space competition is now considered part and parcel of regional dominance and a fundamental component of national security.

Within the Middle East, the UAE government launched the most impressive space programme in 2017, with investments in space technologies already surpassing $5.4 billion. The country’s first state-owned comsat was sent into space in 2009 and on the same day as President Erdogan’s announcement, the UAE Hope spacecraft entered the Martian orbit, making it the first successful interplanetary mission by any Arab state.

Saudi Arabia through the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is furthering efforts to expand its space programme. In October 2020, the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), set up in 2018, finalised a plan where an initial boost of SR2 billion will be allocated to the country’s astronautics programme. Qatar entered the space age in 2013, with the launch of its first satellite Es’hail-1. Oman is expected to launch its first orbiter in 2024. Iran, which after Israel is the second space state in the Middle East, has been active in this regard. The country has been producing satellites since 2004 and has even sent animals into space and launched a military satellite in April 2020 amidst Covid.

An examination of Earth from space dissipates all boundaries and sectarian mappings instantaneously. Keeping this picture in mind, the respective leaders should be aware of the fact that instituting space capabilities across the Middle East demand tighter coordination and continuous cooperation between regional countries.

The Middle East has vast human ability and intelligence. Case in point, Iran, which despite sanctions, has built an impressive proficiency in launch vehicles. Every country has something unique to offer. For instance, Qatar has world-renowned universities and war-ravaged Yemen has mountains which can be used as sites for observatories.

In order to make combined efforts based on mutual understanding, existing forums such as the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences and the Arab Astronomical Society should be utilised. In the future, a Middle East space coordination group can also be set up which will make partnerships with regional non-Arab states easier.

In fact, Anousheh Ansari, the Iranian-American space traveller should be taken as a symbol of building bridges and a specimen of what this part of the world can deliver.

Afterall, without teamwork and camaraderie there can only be non-sustainable progress.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2021.

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