Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman is laying the groundwork for the future flight of astronauts with the establishment of a space centre over an area of 20,000 square metres in the Artificial Intelligence Zone in Duqm.
“The project aims to create a simulating space environment to study the behaviour of astronauts before joining the actual flights. It will serve scientists, researchers and those interested in doing experiments in the space sector, artificial intelligence and advanced technology,” Eng. Bahiya bint Hilal bin Sultan Al Shuaibi, Founder and CEO of Global Space and Technology Company, said.
The new centre will be for research and scientific and practical experiments and offer simulation facilities to astronauts and help conduct research on advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
A land lease agreement for the centre was signed between the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (Opaz) and Global Space and Technology Company on Tuesday.
The agreement was signed by Eng. Ahmed bin Ali bin Akaak, Acting CEO of the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Sezad) and Eng. Bahiya bint Hilal bin Sultan Al Shuaibi, Founder and CEO of Global Space and Technology Company.
“We were pleased to announce the signing of the usufruct (land lease) agreement to develop this project, which is a space settlement centre to simulate living in space, such as staying on the moon or Mars,” the Founder and CEO of Global Space and Technology Company, said.
She further said, “Global Space and Technology Company will develop this centre to serve space and modern technology projects for commercial and research purposes, by providing several services such as satellites for communications, remote sensing and space imaging.”
“In addition, the project aims to establish training programmes to transfer knowledge in cooperation with specialised international institutions. Therefore, the Company designs different programmes related to virtual reality, 3D programmes for educational purposes and simulation, in line with the needs of educational institutions and providing them with the appropriate relevant devices” she added.
It is worth noting that the Global Space and Technology Company won the Business Excellence Award 2021 given by the World Business Federation in the USA.
The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones has allocated a zone for artificial intelligence, drone experiments and future technologies in Duqm, covering 18 square kilometres area and an altitude of 80 metres above the sea level.
Further, a supervisory committee was formed to supervise the works and projects developed at the artificial intelligence zone.
