UAE Space Agency to establish economic zone at Masdar City

The UAE Space Agency and Masdar will establish the country’s first space economic zone in Masdar City to support startups and SMEs.

The zone will be an incubator for R&D and aims to offer the infrastructure and environment needed to encourage the development of the national space industry.

Businesses will be offered benefits that include incubation, office space, mentorship, networking, investment opportunities, access to government contracts and cooperation with global research centres, official news agency WAM reported.

The UAE Space Agency and @Masdar are proud to announce the first Space Economic Zone to empower a new generation of startups. Located in Masdar City, it will provide entrepreneurs with an enabling ecosystem that will boost entrepreneurship and innovation within the space sector. pic.twitter.com/1zptJeU7aa

— وكالة الإمارات للفضاء (@uaespaceagency) January 20, 2022

The Space Economy Zone programme has four key pillars –  the Space Economy Accelerator Group, Space Labs, Space Government Services, and Work Space. It aims to create a sustainable framework to facilitate public-private partnerships; build an integrated business environment for local and global companies; support the growth of national space technologies and services; support the establishment of homegrown startups and accelerate their growth.

In line with the agreement, the Masdar City Free Zone will offer business licences for space-related companies across the launch sector, satellite communication, logistics, data analysis, science, technology, and engineering, among others. Masdar City already serves as a HQ to the UAE Space Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said: “Space is the next frontier of business growth set to propel the national economy for the next 50 years. The Space Economic Zone in Masdar City is an exciting milestone in our strategy to create a competitive private sector, build national capabilities, promote public-private partnerships, boost R&D and encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi, director-general of the UAE Space Agency, added: “Capacity-building is vital to advance the UAE’s knowledge-driven economy and the Space Economic Zone is a major step forward. It will provide a business-friendly ecosystem with world-class infrastructure and competitive services to support the establishment of new spacetech firms.”

“Already home to UAE Space Agency, our partnership to launch the first Space Economic Zone extends the exceptional offerings provided by Masdar City’s Free Zone to a new and exciting frontier. Our aim is not only to drive entrepreneurship and economic development within the fast-growing space sector, but to attract and foster the most talented professionals from across the region and beyond,” noted Mohamed Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar.