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Space Tourism from UAE
RAK writes "The only company to have sent tourists into space, Space Adventures, has announced plans to develop a commercial spaceport in the UAE, from where it will operate suborbital flights. The project will cost $265 million. The Russian-built suborbital vehicle called Explorer will have the capacity to transport up to five people to an altitude of nearly 100km in space, but the project's schedule is yet to be announced."
I wonder what the particular attraction of building it there is?
Probably 3 main things,
- Cheap fuel
- Wealthy elite prepared to pay
- Cheap labour, with little workers' protection (safe working conditions, etc - this is an assumption on my part)
But in the future, when the Gulf has less income, due to less oil, won't their economies die?
This is precisely why the UAE is diversifying into things like tourism.
I don't know how the American Military is going to feel about a potential space borne weapon being located in the Middle East, even without explosives the kinetic energy from 100km is more than enough to cause a lot of damage in a populated area.
It may interest you to know that the UAE is quite friendly towards western nations, and still has the respect of more hostile middle eastern countries.
I know that Australia has significant diplomatic and strategic interests there (as long as the UAE wants them around), I'm pretty sure the USA already does as well.
Oh yes. Dubai (an emirate of the UAE is equivalent to a city state with its own king) has been trying very hard to establish itself on the map as a tourist destination, and as an economic hub for the middle east, as well as the logical connection between the east and the west.
:)
Apart from the space port, here are some more interesting things about the city:
1) The World : A set of Artificial Islands being built off the coast of dubai, for the ultra rich.
2) The Palms : 3 of them actually These are artificial peninsula built in the shape of a palm tree.. Offering luxury houses with private beaches.
3) The worlds Tallest building : The Burj Dubai.. The end height of the building is secret, but it is rumored to be 2500ft.
4) The worlds most luxurious hotel : The Burj al Arab. Read up on it.. its quite a place to stay.
5) The World's largest mall : Dubai Mall Will be built near the Burj Dubai.
6) The World's third largest mall : Mall of the Emirates. Smaller only to Dubai Mall, and Mall of America
7) The Hydropolis : The world's first under water hotel
BTW, this country has no income tax. Gas costs about $1.80 a gallon. Labor is cheap.. you can get a house boy/house maid for about $250-$300 a month LEGALLY. I know.. I had one.
This country is quite liberal too. Alcohol is allowed, though gambling isn't. Newspapers are censored to some degree, and nudity in movies is also censored.
At the same time, people can wear whatever they want.. beaches in dubai (Jumeirah beach in particular is quite popular with the western folk) look a lot like american beaches. Lots of bikinis, tight jeans, short shorts. the whole deal.
- Tempestdata
Uhm, rockets don't use "gas" or "petrol" Ding, but thanks for playing...duh
..another man's ICBM.
I think you're over-estimating the "importance" of this space-port. They are unbelievably wealthy: $300 million or whatever it is costing is bugger-all to them.
It's not like they're hinging their future success on this space-port, the Emirates have invested in countless schemes which have failed miserably in the past - this one is not special, and it's not going to hurt them if it fails as well.
I'm sure they already have a very diverse portfolio as it is.
I'm not an expert on UAE culture, I just have relatives that lived over there for a few years.
It seems they like taking risks and would prefer to do interesting things with their money rather than horde it all.
And the Emirates already do have a lot of overseas investment in the countries you have mentioned, and then some.
But from what I can gather, they want to develop their own country and create sustainable industries for their people within their own borders that doesn't depend on oil.
I suppose it's no coincidence that the UAE also just so happens to have one of the few economies in the world that is soundly spanking the US's ass, again on a per-capita basis. And it's not all oil, though their labor practices are nothing to be proud of.
A-Bomb