DUBAI: This image taken from space of Dubai’s Palm Jumierah is the first official photo taken by UAE satellite KhalifaSat.
The photo of Palm Jumeirah, the famous man-made island that lies off the coast of Dubai in the Arabian Gulf, was revealed by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center this week.
The space center said the image was taken on Oct. 31 as KhalifaSat passed over the emirate.
And Dubai Media Office celebrated the exciting moment with a tweet of the image.
Palm Jumeirah ... KhalifaSat’s first image from space.#Dubai @MBRSpaceCentre pic.twitter.com/D1TYUVqdGU
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) November 5, 2018
The satellite is being used to deliver high-quality images of Earth, assisting international government and private organizations with environmental monitoring, disaster relief and urban planning.
The UAE-built satellite was launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center in October.
The UAE has previously sent two satellites into orbit - DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2 - but KhalifaSat is the first to be entirely built in the Gulf state.
With construction beginning in 2013, the satellite took five years to be completed following an announcement by UAE’s Vice President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
KhalifaSat is set to spend five years in a ‘low earth orbit’ before descending to Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center.
