Emirati astronauts will receive training at Nasa’s spaceflight training centre in Houston this year as part of a new agreement signed between the UAE and the US space agency.
Maj Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati to fly into space, and reserve astronaut Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, arrived in the States on Monday to begin the programme at Johnson Space Centre.
The news comes four days ahead of the first anniversary of UAE's landmark journey to the International Space Station on September 25 of last year.
"We are pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with Nasa to train UAE astronauts for potential missions to the International Space Station, including space walks and long duration station missions. The programme will train our youth and astronauts for future missions," tweeted Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
The training will take two and a half years to complete and will include the two new astronauts who will join the UAE's space programme next year.
Salem Al Marri, head of the astronaut programme, said the agreement opens up new partnership opportunities between Nasa and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
The two space agencies have finalised a reimbursable space agreement, meaning that the UAE will pay for the use of Nasa facilities and services.
It could allow Emirati astronauts to participate in long haul space missions. The first one by Maj Al Mansouri was for eight days.
“The International Space Station systems training is one of the most specialised training modules, and our astronauts will benefit immensely from it," said Mr Al Marri.
"We will continue to work together with the US on further collaborations in the coming months and propel the global space sector towards a brighter future.”
Under the agreement, the astronauts will receive training in multiple areas of operations on the International Space Station, including major systems, robotics, spacewalking and an array of leadership training.
The partnership is expected to pave the way for the UAE to participate in future Nasa missions, including its Artemis programme.
Nasa and the UAE Space Agency had signed a co-operation agreement a few years ago, which said the two entities would collaborate on human spaceflights in future.
“This agreement to train Emirati astronauts will pave the way for even closer relations between our two nations creating new opportunities for the UAE to become involved in the International Space Station, Artemis, and other Nasa activities,” said James Morhard, Nasa deputy administrator.
Spacewalk training will be carried out in a pool filled with 2.3 million litres of water at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Each hour spent doing a spacewalk requires seven hours of training in the pool.
During spacewalks, astronauts experience weightlessness and similar sensations to swimming in a pool.
Astronauts and cosmonauts routinely float outside of the International Space Station for seven to eight hours at a time to do maintenance work on the spaceship.
They must wear a 115 kilogram-heavy suit that is filled with oxygen, called extravehicular activity (EVA), and be tied to the station with a safety tether so they do not float away.
These tasks are incredibly risky. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned during a spacewalk in 2013 when water leaked into his helmet.
“The US and UAE enjoy a strong relationship here on Earth, and we are excited to extend that relationship into the final frontier,” said Mr Morhard.
“The UAE has made extraordinary progress in the space arena in a very short amount of time with the successful launch of the Emirates Mars Mission’s Hope probe, the region’s first interplanetary spacecraft, serving as the most recent example of the UAE’s ambitious space program.”
In the meanwhile, the search for two new astronauts are ongoing. Applications to apply were closed in May, with 4,305 nationals vying to follow in the footsteps of Maj Al Mansouri.
Officials said at the time that the search would be in the interview round, where 80 shortlisted candidates would be tested on their space knowledge, ability to lead and take command.
Most of this year's applicants are engineers, pilots, medical professionals and experts in fields of science.
Forty-four per cent of the applicants are from Abu Dhabi, 23 per cent from Dubai, and the rest from the five other emirates, while 130 hold PhDs.
Out of the total applicants, 1,400 of them are women - 250 more female entrants than in the last round of applications in 2018.
On September 10, Maj Al Mansouri and Dr Al Neyadi completed advanced scuba training, which is an essential skill that astronauts need to prepare for space missions. It helps the body adapt to the motion felt during spacewalk.
No new space mission has been announced by the UAE yet. Mr Al Marri had told The National they were open to all space players capable of sending humans to the ISS.
Russia continues to send astronauts to the space station on its Soyuz spacecraft, and human spaceflights have returned in US with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
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.”
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
