UAE-India look for cooperation in space frontier

The UAE and India have been partners for several years with the bond strengthening with time. Now the scope for cooperation seems even more wider. Since August 2015, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UAE, the two countries have had multiple exchange visits, which underlines the importance each side accords to the growing relationship. Several pacts have been signed and both countries are looking to work together on various fronts, space being an important sector.

It is a relatively new frontier for cooperation, but the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) have ambitious plans in paving the way for greater collaboration.

In February last year, for instance, the UAE chose India as partner to launch its nanosatellite Nayif-1 into space. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.

While this was one of the first great achievements for the UAE's nascent space mission, plans are grandiose to say the least. The 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE will be commemorated with Emirates Mars Mission orbiter - a first in the region. The rocket is expected to blast off from the Earth during a brief "launch window" in July 2020 and is set to arrive at Mars in 2021. Only a handful of countries in the world can boast of this kind of achievement, and the UAE is gearing to make a mark on this front.

The UAE also surprised the world with the visionary Mars 2117 plan to colonise the red planet.

India, on the other hand, has developed a robust space industry and has accomplished many a feat in recent years. In 2009, the country's first lunar foray made a stunning discovery and found water molecules on the moon. India is planning another mission by January 2019 to launch a rover on the south pole of the moon, a feat that has not been accomplished by any space agency so far. If successful, it will pave way for even more ambitious missions, such as landings on Mars, as well as the Venus probe.

Even as the UAE is working towards realising its plans for space exploration, a close working relationship between the two nations can do a world of good to both.

The two countries have already been working together in sectors such as defence, investment, security, terrorism, cyberspace, maritime transport, consular matters, energy and technology along with regional and global issues of mutual interest. And it will be of mutual benefit for the two nations to work together on space missions to emerge as leaders in the field in the near future.