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Scotland Deepens UAE Space Ties With New Deal
The deal reflects Scotland’s growing international profile in space technology and the UAE’s interest in leveraging foreign expertise for its ambitious space programme.
Scotland has strengthened its ties with the United Arab Emirates after a leading space industry group signed a new agreement to expand collaboration between the two nations’ space sectors.
The Letter of Intent between Space Scotland and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) includes a commitment to deepen co-operation across areas such as satellite manufacturing, launch services and research.
According to the Scottish Government, the deal also paves the way for further business cooperation, trade activity, and joint industry events that will result in commercial opportunities for space firms working in both countries.
Announcing the agreement, the government said that the partnership recognises Scotland’s emergence as a leading producer of small satellites and its progress towards launch capability, which aligns with the UAE’s own space programme, which includes ambitions for lunar exploration, Earth observation and space science.
“Scotland’s space industry is evolving rapidly, and partnerships like this Letter of Intent ensure that our sector continues to develop in a globally connected manner,” said Daniel Smith, the Scottish Government’s trade envoy for space.
“It provides a practical framework for joint activity and reaffirms Scotland’s commitment to working with world-class partners to unlock new opportunities in space.”
In an interview with Spacetech in Gulf in October, Smith outlined the ambition to intertwine the Scottish and UAE space industries, combining Scottish expertise in small satellites and data analysis with the UAE’s strengths in investment and deep space missions to “find gaps to plug” across both sectors.
“All of this creates new commercial, research, and skills opportunities for organisations across our ecosystem, from upstream manufacturing to downstream applications that benefit everyday life on Earth,” said Smith at the time.
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Scotland and the UAE have accelerated their tech partnership this year, resulting in a flurry of announcements.
In April, the government unveiled plans for a new Abu Dhabi energy hub for Scottish clean energy companies, while the Middle East’s first Robotarium was launched in February, and Edinburgh’s Intelligent Growth Solutions was awarded the initial contract for a 200-tower GigaFarm in Dubai in August.
These plans all stem from an MOU signed back in 2023, designed to foster collaboration in priority sectors such as clean energy, space, and AI, the result of a joint UAE-Scotland task force that identified areas of shared interest beyond the oil trade.
