Oman's ambitious bid to develop a commercial rocket launch site to put the country at the centre of the region's growing space sector is taking shape, even after a recent test mission setback.
Oman's plans to carry out a second rocket launch from its under-construction spaceport were called off on Sunday after engineers discovered a technical problem shortly before lift-off.
The Duqm-2 mission was expected to launch a 12-metre experimental suborbital rocket from Etlaq Spaceport, the Middle East's first commercial launch site, in the remote coastal desert of Duqm.
But a fault was found in the rocket’s actuator, a device that helps control systems on the launch vehicle.
Sayyid Azzan bin Qais Al Said, chief executive of the spaceport, said the mission had still met many of its goals.
“We achieved many objectives of the Duqm-2 mission, including planning the mission, navigating regulatory processes, designing ground infrastructure and building an integration hangar,” he said.
The Kea-1 rocket, developed by Stellar Kinetics, a private company from New Zealand, was meant to travel into suborbital space on a short test flight.
'Building momentum'
A company representative said the rocket had performed well in all steps before the final countdown, including preparing the launchpad, filling the rocket’s tanks and integrating the two payloads from international partners.
“Over the next four months we anticipate a series of subsequent launches to continue on the research and development pathway,” they said.
“As the programme builds momentum, we expect to see a steady stream of both experimental and commercial Stellar Kinetics vehicles launching from the Etlaq Spaceport."
Start-ups involved
The Duqm-2 mission involved start-ups from the UK and Taiwan, who developed small satellite payloads to ride on the rocket.
A team from Jupiter, a UK-based space start-up, built a small satellite called Jovian-O and an Earth observation device.
Ieuan Carney, a PhD student at the University of Surrey, said being a part of the mission was exciting. “Although the payload didn’t get to deploy, it’s something we were prepared for because we know space projects often have setback in the early stages,” he said. “We’re still so proud of what we’ve done, developing a payload and fitting it on to a rocket.”
Sight Space from Taiwan developed a tiny satellite designed to measure stress and environmental conditions during the launch process.
Etlaq momentum
This was the second of five launch attempts planned at Etlaq Spaceport this year.
The first in April was meant to see a 1-metre rocket lift-off but it was delayed and has not yet taken off.
An attempt Stellar Kinetics is expected in October involving the Kea-2 rocket.
A Kuwaiti start-up will try to launch its experimental rocket in November, and a fifth attempt will be made, again by Stellar Kinetics, in December.
The spaceport’s first test flight was in December 2024, when a 6.5-metre rocket blasted off on a high-altitude test flight.
Etlaq is the Middle East's first commercial spaceport and is being positioned as a fast-track launch site for start-ups.
It offers quick access to rocket testing, while plans for construction of a full-scale orbital spaceport are progressing ahead of a scheduled 2027 opening.
This year's five launch attempts are being made possible by the new Genesis programme at Etlaq, which involved creating temporary but fully operational facilities at the spaceport. This allows companies to plan and execute high-altitude missions in as little as 13 weeks.
The streamlined process is designed to cater to the growing demand from private companies, in contrast to the practice in countries such the US, where launch approval from the Federal Aviation Administration can take months.
The Genesis operations occupy only about 10 per cent of the spaceport's capacity.
The rest of the site is being reserved for the much larger, permanent orbital-class complex, which will feature three launch complexes and four pads, designed to support small, medium and heavy-lift vehicles.
Construction on the full orbital spaceport is expected to begin next year, with commercial operations scheduled to start at the end of 2027.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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