The UAE has high ambitions for space — and deep pockets to fund them. The UAE Space Agency (UAESA) is less than a decade old, but the government has spent billions investing in homegrown capabilities and establishing partnerships with other countries and commercial players. The UAE sent its first astronaut (or privately funded “spaceflight participant” as NASA put it) to the ISS in 2019; two years later, it became the latest member of a very small group of nations to put a probe into Martian orbit.

The Gulf nation’s space ecosystem has a few key players beyond the UAESA: Space42, a merger of Emirati satellite firm Yahsat and data analytics company Bayanat; EDGE Group, a large industrial prime; and a handful of universities and research institutions like the National Space and Science Technology Center. The country is at the point where it wants to deploy satellite constellations, and bring satellite manufacturing capabilities in-house.