2024-01-20 11:11:42
Oman recently announced its plans to build the first commercial spaceport in the Middle East, “Atlaq”. According to the authorities in Muscat, the port is expected to start operating as early as 2030.
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The space port is intended to be built in the port city of Dukam, in accordance with the plans of the American Aviation Administration. The chairman of the Omani Space Corporation (NASCOM), Azzan Al-Said, told the “National” newspaper that the planning and development phase will begin next year. “The plan is for a large spaceport that can accommodate all launch vehicles, from micro to large orbital and suborbital flight.” , explained El-Said. “The port will include three launch complexes: one for medium to large, one for small to medium, and one for micro.”
A major challenge facing Muscat officials are the restrictions imposed by Washington on the export of technologies, under the ITAR regulation. This is the reason why companies such as Virgin and Blue Origin did consider launching tourist flights to Oman’s neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, but ultimately refrained. “We will work to remove this barrier,” declared El-Said.
In Oman, they state that the space port in Duqm will be ideal for launches due to its location near the equator, through which the rocket will be able to take advantage of the Earth’s rotation speed. The only spaceport close to the equator is in French Guiana, but it is clear that it will be more convenient for international companies to launch from Oman – and not from the Latin American country, due to its location.
Therefore, already with the initial declaration of the intention to establish a space port in Oman a year ago, the British company Launch Services closed a contract with Nasscom to create engineering plans for the space port. For London this is a golden opportunity to curb the advantages of the US and Russia.
Neither Sunni nor Shiite
Oman considers itself a relevant country for the establishment of the first space port in the Middle East, partly due to the fact that it is the only Ibadi Muslim country in the world. The very fact that she is neither Sunni nor Shia allows her to maneuver diplomatically within the complicated Muslim world. The country is also interested in becoming a significant player in space itself when the Minister of Transportation, Communications and Information Technologies, Said Al-Mawali, said that the country intends to launch a satellite into space next year.
Reminiscent of the days of the Iron Curtain, Washington and Moscow operate the oldest spaceports in the world: the American Cape Canaveral Spaceport, from which the late Ilan Ramon and space tourist Eitan Stiva were launched, was established as early as 1940. About 15 years later, the Soviet Union inaugurated the Cosmodrome Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The one gaining momentum in this field is China, which in 2016, for example, inaugurated the Wenchang Space Port. In terms of private launches, the Rocket Love company does use a space port in northern New Zealand, but most of the companies – Virgin, Space X and Blue Origin Yen – use commercial spaceports in the USA.
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