clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Saudi Arabia launches training programme for space industry

June 5, 2022 at 10:12 am

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Crew Dragon spacecraft named Freedom launches from pad 39A at the NASA Kennedy Space Center on April 27, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States on April 27, 2022 [Paul Hennessy – Anadolu Agency]

Saudi Arabia is launching a training programme for those who seek to work in the space industry, helping them to advance in the field and develop their skills.

According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) today, the programme – named ‘Madar’ – will work to increase the local knowledge levels in the space sector and related scientific fields and projects. It will focus its recruitment efforts on new graduates, those with ambition in the sector, and those who are already involved in the industry.

Lasting for five weeks, the Madar training programme is set to accommodate at least 1,000 male and female trainees from across the kingdom, who will focus on three tracks in the industry: specialised space orbit, satellites, and public space.

In its announcement, the SPA stated that “This initiative comes in light of the Saudi Space Commission’s interest in developing human cadres, developing national capabilities and skills in the space sector, qualifying those interested in the field with sufficient experience and knowledge, and empowering its workers to help advance the space sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The announcement comes months after the Saudi Space Commission (SSC) and the UK Space Agency signed a memorandum of understanding in March for cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space, which was aimed at providing a framework for cooperation in space activities and the exchange of information and technologies.

UAE to become first Arab country to send astronaut on six-month space mission