The Middle East’s First Master’s Space Programme

Discover our MIT-endorsed programme

Space Systems and Technology Programme

Yahsat is committed to using connectivity as a tool to help drive social change, increase education opportunities and develop communities. We are proud that our partnership with Khalifa University, UAE Space Agency and Northrop Grumman has created the first multidisciplinary academic space programme in the UAE.

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Adham Alkhaja - Student

Space activities are increasing in the UAE… we are encouraged to learn about space technology and it has a very bright future

Dr. Behjat Al Yousef - Interim Provost

Nasa, for example, has always accepted research based Cubesats and launch them as part of their space missions, allowing us to directly enhance the mission to Mars

David W Thompson - President and CEO

One of the next steps in our partnership introduced the first Graduate Level Program in space systems and technologies

Masood M Sharif Mahmood - CEO

A program that is a product of the joint efforts of three, what I like to call - best in class - institutions

Yahsat Space Laboratory Achievements

  • First space systems lab in UAE with Assembly-Integration-Verification (AIV) facilities to build CubeSats of size up to 6U and mass up to 10 kg.
  • A VHF/UHF/S-Band Ground station capable of autonomous operations.
  • Has supported numerous nanosatellite projects:
    • MySat-1 and DhabiSat, previously named MySat-2 (Yahsat-funded)
    • MeznSat and UAE MiniSat Competition (UAESA funded)
  • Active participation in Young Future Energy Leaders, Ektashif outreach Programs and space events

Yahsat-funded CubeSat Projects

MySat-1: Launched to orbit in 2019, MySat-1 was a 1U CubeSat educational mission with the following objectives:

  • Communication in the CubeSat in space and establish a telemetry download
  • Take photos of the UAE land area using a camera as payload and sending the photos back to the ground station
  • Test in space a new lithium-ion battery developed and manufactured at Khalifa University laboratories

DhabiSat: Launched to the International Space Station in February 2021 and deployed to into its orbital slot from Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply spacecraft in July, DhabiSat is a 2U CubeSat educational mission with the following objectives:

  • Test custom software modules, developed at Khalifa University, for the Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS). The new ADCS algorithms shall improve the pointing accuracy of the CubeSat and its response time to attitude changes as compared to conventional algorithms
  • Take photos using a high resolution camera as payload - at 12.6 metres per pixel spatial resolution on ground, from an altitude of 450 km

 

11+

Active MSc Students

30+

UAE national interns in the last 3 years

Who we want

Admission is open to both male and female students. You must be sufficiently proficient in English to be able to manage a challenging master’s degree.