Tender for space accelerator program announced

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has announced a tender for the development of a space accelerator construction programme.

The tender supervised by the National Centre for Space, Advanced Technologies and Artificial Intelligence is open to local and international companies specialising in accelerators for the space industry.

Through the program, the Ministry aims to boost economic growth in the space sector and increase its contribution to the country’s GDP. In addition, it supports entrepreneurs and local startups in the sector by providing resources, funding and guidance to startups and small and medium-sized enterprises to help them grow and introduce innovative products to local and global markets.

According to the ministry, the programme will focus on various activities in the space sector, including communications, Earth observation, geospatial analysis, drones, artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data processing, data storage and protection, sustainable space development, and spacecraft simulation.

The programme is part of the country’s broader plan to support the space sector.

In 2023, the Ministry presented the National Implementation Program, which contains a detailed 10-year plan aimed at developing the sector.

Speaking to The Observer earlier this year, the ministry’s Undersecretary for Communications and IT, Dr Ali al Shidhani, revealed that investment in the sector since the launch of the programme had amounted to 20 million riyals.

Some of the most prominent local space companies include ETCO, the company behind Oman’s first satellite, Aman-1, which is also in the process of launching a joint venture to manufacture and launch satellites in Oman; NASCOM, which is building the first spaceport in the MENA region in Duqm; and Global Space and Technology Company, the company behind ZONE88, an initiative that will include a space habitat center and a commercial space launch zone in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm.

Tender documents can be collected until 22 September 2024, while the deadline for submitting offers is 20 October 2024.