The UAE last year launched the Foresight-1 Earth-observation satellite made by Iceye.
ABU DHABI—The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is looking to advance its space ambitions through a joint venture (JV) between the country’s Space42 and Edge Group’s new space unit, FADA, to bolster its efforts in Earth observation, an Edge official says.
The move, though shy of an outright integration, comes after Space42 was created last year out of the merger of geospatial product provider Bayanat AI and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company. Edge and Space42 on Feb. 17 signed an agreement at IDEX 2025 here to collaborate to build out the country’s space-based remote sensing capabilities.
“This joint venture brings together FADA’s expertise in advanced technology, defense and manufacturing with Space42’s leadership in [artificial intelligence]-driven satellite solutions, creating a power-house for next-generation space-based intelligence and situational awareness,” Waleid Al Mesmari, Edge’s president for Space & Cyber Technologies cluster, said in a statement.
The UAE last year launched the Foresight-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite. Space42 and ICEYE, the Finnish SAR spacecraft provider that built Foresight-1, set up a JV to build SAR satellites in the UAE. The country also is looking for additional Earth observation capabilities, industry officials say.
The goal is to develop and deploy next-generation, multi-sensor satellite constellations, the two UAE businesses said in their statement.
But Hasan Al Hosani, CEO for Bayanat Smart Solutions at Space42, added that the JV was about more than just Earth observation. It was also focused on looking to bolster space use for national security and economic growth more widely.
Although the JV is largely billed as seeking to enhance the UAE’s sovereign space capabilities, the companies added that they are looking to commercialize what they do together to win business abroad.
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