Interview: The Abu Dhabi space debate with HE Sarah Al-Amiri

Space law has long been international, but that may be about to change as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the first-ever Abu Dhabi Space Debate on 5-6 December 2022.

The two-day event will bring together space experts, policymakers and industry representatives from around the world and bring them together to discuss the greatest challenges to ensuring the equitable use of space for the benefit of all.

We interviewed Her Excellency Sarah Al-Amiri, the UAE Space Agencyand the whole country minister of state for advanced technologies Find out what’s in store before the event.

Want to learn more about the UAE space program?listen to our podcast Nora Al Matrooshi, UAE’s first female astronautor read about UAE Mars Rover, Hope.

What is the Abu Dhabi Space Debate?

Over the course of the past fifteen years, the number of players in the space domain has expanded considerably. The role of the private sector is not what it used to be. It has been a contractor for space agencies or the military in the past. Now, we’ve seen new entrants broadly expand into the aerospace industry, expand into the commercial space and create demand. Now we see that private space also plays a role in exploration.

With all these different elements, we now have a very different view of the space domain than we have in the past. space is getting crowded. International law was developed at a time when there were very few players in the industry. At the same time, we need to ensure continued access to space by emerging space nations, as our lives increasingly depend on some form of data from space.

Everyone—heads of state, international organizations, commercial companies, existing space nations, emerging space nations—has a say in the development of the space sector. But we don’t have a forum around the world where all these different influencers in the space sector have a mechanism to communicate, address issues, identify what the gaps are, and start coming up with viable solutions to advance them. A pragmatic and proactive place, not an island.

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That was the inspiration for the space debate in Abu Dhabi. Even before the debate, we agreed we needed this setup, so there was general excitement about the results. We’ll all be in the same place discussing the same topics, rather than using space as a meeting of many meetings in normal geopolitical or economic forums, or having spacemen discussing space only among us.

What topics were discussed at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate?

There are four key areas that need to be addressed.

The sustainability of space lies in how to use space for sustainability of the planet And how to maintain access to space.

We will also look at current policy – ​​including global space governance.

And then there’s the role of emerging space nations, making sure that’s an ongoing and active role.

Finally, there is the role of the private space sector.

We already know which areas need to be addressed. Each of these issues are interrelated – they are not isolated issues. If we don’t solve all these problems together, we will have problems in 10 years.

What do you hope attendees took away from the Abu Dhabi space debate?

A call to action guarantees that positive action is actually taken, discussions continue throughout the year between sessions of the space debate, and mechanisms are put in place to ensure that dialogue takes place.

The first step is knowing what questions to ask, and that’s what a debate can ask. Understanding the different perspectives that exist as answers to these questions, and then proceeding to actually put together something pragmatic, with the necessary guiding principles that allow us to move forward.

This is not just for discussion, but to better inform all stakeholders present at the event, and then be able to drive international governance initiatives on top of that.

Why is engagement important to the UAE?

International relations remain the UAE’s mechanism and means to foster relationships, ensure economic growth and provide market access.

We strongly believe, especially in this day and age, that we need to move away from polarization, understand that there are differences around the world, and ensure that dialogue continues to be a way of understanding how to move forward, rather than allowing a point of contention to be silently cultivated until it explodes. We don’t want that to happen to the space sector.

The 2022 Abu Dhabi Space Debate will take place on 5-6 December 2022.