It’s been a little over a year since the first Emirati “Sultan of Space” — Sultan Al Neyadi — completed the first spacewalk by an Arab astronaut. That was one of many milestones the UAE has achieved in the space sector since it set its eyes on becoming a regional leader in that space, including sending Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati astronaut, to space in 2019.

The UAE sent an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021, marking the first Arab mission to the planet, doubled down on satellite manufacturing, and has joined the US, Japan, Canada, and the European Union (EU) in implementing the Lunar Gateway project — which will see the world’s first space station orbiting the Moon, and will involve sending the first Emirati astronaut sent to the lunar orbit.

Its ambitions don’t end there: The UAE also aims to establish the first habitable human settlement on Mars by 2117.

There’s no denying how nascent the sector remains in the UAE — which is why it’s leaning on other leaders in the sector for bilateral synergies — namely, the US. The US and the UAE have been growing their ties in a myriad of sectors over the past few years, with a strategic partnership in the field of AI, exemplified in Microsoft's USD 1.5 bn investment in state AI firm G42, defense, and others.

Space is no different, which is why the US Chamber of Commerce last week brought its first ever space delegation to Abu Dhabi. The delegation, comprising more than 20 companies and over 40 business leaders, engaged with key Emirati officials and private sector players, including Economy Minister Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri and leadership from the UAE Space Agency, state-owned spacetech firm Space42, Edge Group cybertech subsidiary Fada, and others during their visit to discuss potential ways forward in the sector.

The key takeaway from the delegation? While space is still in many ways a “green tech field,” Steve Lutes, US Chamber of Commerce vice president for Middle East affairs, told EnterpriseAM UAE, the sector is now beginning to open up in terms of commercialization opportunities and partnerships with private sector players across sectors. “It's not just a niche industry anymore,” Lutes said. “There's an overlay with artificial intelligence, with life sciences, with the green economy and sustainability,” he added.

This is a big shift for a sector that has historically been classified as a high-level security sector, with partnerships limited to government-to-government cooperation, Lutes explained. It’s been a rigid sector in terms of the ability to share information and data, and lacked the commercial component to make it a viable sector for private sector partnership.

As the US and the UAE’s ties in technology grow, securing permissions from the US government to bring those technologies and data to the UAE is becoming easier. “There are US companies that are looking to finalize some approvals and hopefully be able to establish a manufacturing footprint here, so that’ll be a big piece of it,” Lutes said.

There’s also a lot of interest in life sciences, as well as the intersection between AI and space, and climate mitigation and space, he added.

Cooperation between US and UAE space firms is already happening: Abu Dhabi-based space and deeptech investor and International Holding Company-backed Marlan and US-based startup Loft Orbital set up a joint venture to mass manufacture satellites for the first time in the Middle East earlier this year. Satellite imagery and analytics firm Planet Labs also partnered up with the UAE’s Space Agency to develop a satellite data-based atlas to help developing countries tackle damage related to climate change.

And US firms in the sector are setting up their HQs here: US startup SolarSpace — which specializes in off-grid concentrated solar power — set up its regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi after joining the NextGen FDI Program, which helps startups set up shop in the UAE by streamlining registration and licensing procedures, visa issuances, and providing lease incentives. Fun fact: The startup had initially visited the UAE as part of a greentech delegation brought by Lutes and his team at the chamber.

A big pull for US companies to start here? Talent and leadership. “One of the most important investments that the UAE has made is in its people,” Lutes said. “That makes it a lot easier to have those R&D partnerships or to bring manufacturing operations here,” he added. SolarSpace Founder and CEO David Vili agrees: “My company has been able to achieve progress in less than one year that could take us maybe five years [to achieve] in the US,” he said, crediting that progress to the openness and progressiveness of the leadership in the UAE.

LOOKING AHEAD-

As US president-elect Donald Trump takes office, what’s the outlook on the growth of US-UAE business ties? Lutes is hopeful that the “commercial relationship would only continue to grow,” especially considering Trump is a businessman, he said.

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