The Sharjah Academy of Astronomy, Space Sciences & Technology (SAASST), the Department of Town Planning and Survey, the Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA), and the Sharjah Municipality have signed a cooperation agreement to work on implementing the Cube Satellite project, Sharjah-Sat-2.
HH Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and President of the University of Sharjah (UOS), witnessed the signing of the agreement.
The agreement represents an effective collaboration between governmental and academic institutions affiliated with the University of Sharjah to implement projects of great importance and benefit at various scientific, environmental, and urban levels. The outcome of this project will help diverse parties in making decisions, developing future plans, and conducting scientific research by making use of the accurate information provided by the Sharjah Sat-2 satellite.
The collaboration agreement is for the Sharjah-Sat-2 project, which is a cubic satellite made up of 6 cubic pieces with dimensions of 10x20x30 centimeters in length, width, and height. As with all cubic satellites, the project will include five sub-operating systems and a basic payload, in addition to the ability to add a supplementary load to accomplish multiple tasks at the same time.
The primary payload for Sharjah-Sat 2 will be a spectral camera with a resolution of up to 5 meters. The project will focus on providing the parties funding and sponsoring the project with the scientific data and captured photos by the camera which can be used in urban planning, such as strategic planning, monitoring urban changes and growth, and drawing land maps, the study of the environment, such as monitoring the deterioration of fertile lands, monitoring desertification, monitoring environmental change as a result of human activity, detecting oil, gas and water leaks, and monitoring air pollution and Risk Management, such as assessing and mitigating potential risks.
According to the statement, instead of using ground photos, satellite images can be considered a highly accurate and significant tool for tracking long-term and large-scale changes. Satellites can cover vast areas, acquire high-resolution photos, and automatically transmit them to the ground.
