Bahrain’s National Space Science Agency recently held its inaugural meeting to draft regulatory frameworks and determine next steps in its bid to advance the discipline in the kingdom.
The agency’s new board, led by Mohammed al-Amer, chairman of the Central Informatics and Telecommunications Organisation, met April 9th to discuss the possible ratification of international space-related agreements such as the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue Agreement, the Space Liability Convention, the Registration Convention and the Moon Agreement.
The new agency seeks to establish sound infrastructure for the observation of outer space and the earth, make Bahrain a leader in space science and technology, build a culture and methodology of scientific research within the kingdom and encourage technical innovation, among other goals.
The agency is “an excellent step forward” which will benefit Bahrain and the Gulf Co-operation Council, said Adel Daham of the Ministry of Transport’s meteorology department.
Bahrain, alongside other Gulf states, is capable of keeping pace with advanced nations in the manufacture of private satellites, he told Al-Shorfa.
The meteorology department will benefit from the new agency’s links to space science and astronomy, he said, adding that he hopes there will be strong co-operation between the two sides in the near future.
“The new agency is interested in satellites to obtain data, to use them for remote sensing, and to conduct advanced space research, so it can be the engine for the state in the use of the latest satellite communication technologies,” said University of Bahrain physics professor Waheeb al-Nasser, vice president of the Bahrain Astronomical Society.
The agency should start by ensuring the applications of space science, communicating with its international counterparts in order to benefit from their expertise, conducting cutting-edge research and finally graduating qualified students in this field, he said.
Bahrain can benefit from the experiences of states such as Algeria, which has a long history in space science, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Singapore, Pakistan, Japan and others, al-Nasser said.
Bahrain’s capacity in this field is very modest at present and its development will require many years and a long term strategy in order to bear fruit, said economist Akbar Jafari.
Jafari proposed the establishment of additional research centres in fields such as aluminium, petrochemicals, oil and alternative energy.