Saudi Arabia creates space agency
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The new colonial movement: Saudi Arabia has created its own space agency with the goal of diversifying its economy.
The man chosen to lead the agency, 62-year-old Prince Sultan bin Salman, is also the first Saudi to fly in space, having flown on a shuttle mission in 1985.
The Saudis also shook up the leadership of a number of government agencies. It is theorized though unproven that this shake-up is in connection with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
What this space agency will actually do is very unclear. What is clear is that it was created in response to the aggressive space effort of the UAE. The competition has forced Saudi Arabia’s hand.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Regular readers can support Behind The Black with a contribution via paypal:
If Paypal doesn't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
The new colonial movement: Saudi Arabia has created its own space agency with the goal of diversifying its economy.
The man chosen to lead the agency, 62-year-old Prince Sultan bin Salman, is also the first Saudi to fly in space, having flown on a shuttle mission in 1985.
The Saudis also shook up the leadership of a number of government agencies. It is theorized though unproven that this shake-up is in connection with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
What this space agency will actually do is very unclear. What is clear is that it was created in response to the aggressive space effort of the UAE. The competition has forced Saudi Arabia’s hand.
Can’t wait to see what develops once SpaceX is flying people. Boeing too but I doubt they will be seeking out many customers.
The Saudis are about a century late to be starting on a program of modernization and economic diversification. A social order based on 7th-centuiry religion and tribal barbarian monarchy is going to mix with actual modernity about as well as oil and water. Or, given the essentially inevitable outcome of such an experiment, a better – and space-related – analogy might be to UDMH mixing with NO4.
“Toxic Propellant Hazards”
1966 NASA KSC
https://youtu.be/bDRKeM9kKxs
(22:10)
From “Bold They Rise”, a novel about the Space Shuttle, written by David Hitt and Heather Smith: On STS-51G, the crew was discussing public affairs relating to the Sultan’s presence, “We were told not to tell any camel jokes when Sultan showed up, and the first thing he did when he walked through the door was to say, “I left my camel outside.””
I thought that was pretty funny.