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UAE poised to develop space partnership with Russia

10th June 2021 - 17:56 GMT | by Leonid Nersisyan, Mikhail Kotov in Moscow & St Petersburg

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The UAE is keen to accelerate the development of its nascent space sector. (Photo: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre)

The UAE is set to continue using Russian carrier rockets in its growing military space programme.

A pending joint agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may mark the start of long-term space cooperation between the three countries, including in the military domain.

The agreement is still being drafted, but it is understood to include launchpad upgrades at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russia currently uses Pad 31 to launch Soyuz rockets from Baikonur, while Gagarin’s Start is awaiting modernisation and will subsequently be used as a backup.

On 23 April, Kazakh aerospace industry minister Bagdat Musin said that the contract would be signed within a month, but this still had not happened

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