Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth received a courtesy visit from a team led by Mr. Salem Humaid Al Marri, the Director General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which also included the Minister of Information Technology.
The team is currently in Mauritius on a trip organized by Mr. Darsanand Balgobin of the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication, and Innovation in conjunction with the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC). In a statement after the meeting, the Director General highlighted that their discussions focused on the importance of space for the development of the economy and the people, for the education sector as well as for inspiring the youth.
In addition, he noted that space technology is now routinely applied, whether consciously or unconsciously, everywhere. According to Mr. Al Marri, “space technology is also a source of inspiration, particularly when you see an astronaut in space or hear about a journey to Mars, as it encourages us as individuals to explore and look at the unknown.”
The Director General stated that both nations will now have a close relationship when it comes to space technologies. In addition to organizing collaborative training exercises to help both nations to advance in terms of utilizing and exploiting space, he said, “we look forward to launching joint missions together where our institute will transport equipment from Mauritius and launch it into space.”
Speaking of upcoming projects, Mr. Al Marri emphasized that the negotiations were centered on creating satellites together and added that their institute will train Mauritian experts in satellite systems’ engineering in this context. He stated that “the engineers from Mauritius will be brought to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to work on our projects and gain expertise, after which we will launch the satellites together.”
