Saudi Arabia to approve a national strategy and establish an independent...

          Sultan bin Salman: Hosting meetings of space agencies during the presidencies of Italy and India of the G20            
           
Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Authority, revealed yesterday that a national strategy for space will soon be completed, which includes the establishment of a national company and the establishment of a specialized support fund to invest in innovation and small and emerging institutions in space fields.
In the presence of all the heads of space agencies in the G20 countries, the work of the first meeting of "Space Economy Leaders 20" was launched the day before yesterday within the program of international conferences held in conjunction with the Saudi Presidency of the G20, which aims to coordinate efforts for the peaceful use of space by agencies in the 20 largest countries. Economically worldwide.
At a time when the Saudi idea of ​​adopting the space economy file in the coming sessions and the upcoming presidencies of Italy and India to organize an official gathering, the high meeting discussed supporting the existing and future efforts of the member states in light of a common vision, to raise the level of scientific and economic investment in the space sector and raise its competitiveness and sustainability of its activities.
Prince Sultan bin Salman said at the launch of the first meeting of heads of space agencies in the G20 countries from Riyadh: “We are looking forward to organizing a forum specializing in space economies, and the role of emerging and small companies in this field in which we will be attended by everyone.”  To the meeting details: 

Space and twenty axes
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Authority stated that the Kingdom is interested in the participation of space agencies in the G20 countries, to harness the potential of this sector to serve humanity, noting that “the Kingdom, through its presidency of the G20, focuses on three axes: empowering people, preserving the planet, and shaping New horizons, pointing out the importance of the space sector in serving these three axes.
Prince Sultan went on to say, “Within the year of Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the group, it took the initiative to present the idea of ​​this meeting on the sidelines of the G20 meetings for the first time, in order to contribute to the evaluation of this important field and seek to adopt it in a major working group in the following sessions in coordination with the presidency countries in the coming years in a way that could be possible for the space sector And its growing economies serve the group’s goals and support the growth in countries of the world.

Arab memories
Prince Sultan bin Salman stressed during a meeting of space economy leaders that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is not far from the space sector, as he was close to the first mission in which a Saudi scientific team, numbering more than 30 scientists and astronauts, participated in the first space trip for Arabs and Muslims in 1985 that participated In which.
Prince Sultan bin Salman said: “The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is still interested in the field of space and motivated the Kingdom to keep pace with the development in the space sector, as he has witnessed the great stages of development in the Kingdom over the past decades, and today he is leading the progress that we are living in in several areas.”

Important statistics
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Authority indicated that the meeting focused on the economic dimensions of the space sector, and its contribution to supporting policies in order to achieve stability in the global economy, and the formation of new horizons by strengthening cooperation in the field, and efforts for the peaceful use of space exploration and maximizing its economic benefits by creating a vision A joint venture that improves the level of cooperation in the twenty-member countries, especially that the G20 economies reach $ 70 trillion, and represent 85 percent of the global economy.
Prince Sultan bin Salman added that the size of the space economy in the world is about $ 400 billion during the year 2019, of which the G20 countries account for 92 percent, indicating that the growth of the space economy is expected to reach $ 1.1 trillion in 2040 and $ 2.7 trillion. By 2050.
Saudi space strategy
Prince Sultan bin Salman said during the meeting that the Kingdom has taken the initiative to develop a number of development sectors, from which the space field came through the establishment of the Saudi Space Authority in 2018 with the aim of organizing and developing everything related to the space sector, and implementing the National Space Strategy, which is expected to be approved soon by the state. The Kingdom is also working to establish a national company, proposing the establishment of a specialized fund to invest in innovation and emerging, small and medium enterprises in the fields of space.
“We will soon announce the National Space Strategy, after its approval by the state, which includes ambitious and realistic projects befitting the Kingdom’s stature and confirms Saudi Arabia’s commitment to investing in this important economic sector,” he added.

Features of the strategy
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Authority highlighted some of the features of the National Space Strategy, as he indicated that it will undertake a number of projects in multiple axes and depend on enablers, including the establishment of a company specializing in space, the establishment of a financing program for emerging and research projects, support for small and medium companies and stimulating innovation. He added, “We will build a major sector in the Kingdom’s future economy, to launch the establishment of the space sector in the Kingdom.”

Areas of space economy
Prince Sultan hoped that the space economy would achieve added values ​​and new horizons, starting with the actors in the field of research and development, passing through the manufacturers of space devices and equipment, and ending with the providers of space products and services to end users.
He stressed the importance of employing space technologies to develop the civil aviation sector, which contributes to the rapprochement between people by facilitating travel and shortening its duration, employing space technologies to develop the civil aviation sector, which contributes to rapprochement between people by facilitating travel and shortening its duration, calling for our responsibility and commitment to space agencies in countries The G20 is an investment in the future of our planet and humanity, not just the future of the space sector.

The Space Economy of the Twenty
Prince Sultan stressed in his speech the importance of international cooperation to stimulate the activities of space economies, wishing success to the Italian Space Agency, which requested to host this meeting within the Presidency of the Italian Republic of the G20 next year 2021, and the Indian Space Agency to host it by 2022 in conjunction with India’s presidency of the group.
It is noteworthy that the meeting, which was held for the first time with the participation of heads of space agencies in the G20 countries, had the participation of all heads of agencies, and clear interest in the idea of ​​the meeting.