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The importance of ADSD is that it is the only global forum that constructively unites regulators, governments, institutions, the private sector and academia
Photo: @ADSpaceDebate/Twitter
The first Abu Dhabi Space Debate kicked off on Monday with participants from the space sector around the world.
Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technologies and Chairperson of the UAE Space Agency, said in her opening statement that the event was “a great opportunity to examine, define and pursue potential solutions to some of the challenges currently facing department”.
The impact of these challenges could “reach far beyond the domain of space and potentially touch the everyday lives of people around the world,” she added.
The importance of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate (ADSD) is that it is the only global forum where regulators, governments, institutions, the private sector and academia can come together to gain a comprehensive understanding of developments in this important field.
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“This is where we feel ADSD can make a critical and valuable contribution to further define the evolution of our industry,” she said.
Addressing attendees, Al Amiri said she believes these challenges may exist for the peaceful and collaborative exploration of space’s limitless potential.
“[However] I also believe the implications go far beyond that — to truly define the limitless potential of human beings,” she said.
She emphasized that while we are taking steps to understand the atmospheric dynamics of Martian weather systems, much more work is needed to truly understand weather dynamics on Earth.
“How we, as a species, assume we understand the familiar only to realize that familiarity does not support understanding! We are only now aware of the potential and fundamental impacts of climate change, but I personally don’t think we really understand them,” she said, And added that understanding requires information and hard data.
To do this, she emphasized, it is important to combine data sources and better integrate and collaborate on observations.
“Earth observation technologies will be critical to efforts going forward. Just as they will undoubtedly play a key role in mitigating the negative effects of climate change,” she said, emphasizing that climate change is only one factor.
“Global navigation systems, communications networks, and security and defense technologies. There are new actors, and there are new challenges.”
“We have moved from the bipolar world of the Cold War and its space race to [a] multilateral world, in which about 70 countries are considered space-capable,” she declared.
Al Amiri addressed the challenge of space debris, which she said has long been ignored.
“The space debris challenge is something we’ve been grappling with, but every kick now adds a trillion dollars in additional repair costs. Now is the time to act. It’s too late to act, but it’s not An excuse for inaction,” she said.
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