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."

Comments

FYI

[wilburdg]

For those of you slightly lacking in geography, UAE stands for the United Arab Emirates, a country located on the Arabian Peninsula just east of Saudi Arabia.

Re:FYI

[DeadPrez]

And just so happens to be the only country to use more energy and cause more environmental damage per capita than the good ole US of A.

Re:FYI

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple reason:
The official census and thus captia does not include non-nationals (temporary workers), while the US includes not only temporary workers but also illegal immigrants (not that the census checks a persons visa). The nationals make us a mere 12% of the population and temporary workers make up the rest, illegal immigration, while it exists, is delt with via mass deportations. Nationally cannot be conferred by any process other than birth to a national father. E.G. I was born there but will never be a national.

This keeps their percapita income and other such stats artifically high. They have a penchant for being number 1. Note the 6 star hotel, the world future tallest building, the biggest construction on artifical islands, I think the worlds biggest wedding cake (I had some, it was nice), and a ton of other record attempts.

With 8 1/3 times the reported population contributing to national production and energy use it's not hard to be the highest percapita user (desalination and aluminum refining are a combined effort and it's very very energy intensive, hence everone using water is using energy (the cold water flows quite hot due to the ambient temprature, midday, you might burn yourself showering)) considering these differences in calculating the stats I heartily conferr back status of most wasteful nation to the U.S. As a side note, #3 Kuwait, might do just about the same thing as the UAE, They're analagous nations right down to the flag.

-Daniel

Re:FYI

[bonglord]

I remember when I lived there a while ago we used to use the cold water tank for hot water, and the hot water tank for cold water. The cold tank was in the back garden and would get super hot during the summer, the hot tank was inside with the air conditioning. Happy Days.

Mos Dubai Spaceport...

[thewise1]

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

Whew

[PIPBoy3000]

It's a good thing they picked such a quiet part of the world. I suppose it's so they can ditch over Iran, which is right across the Gulf, well within missle range.

Am I the only person...

[niteice]

...that read it as "UAC"?

Article from earlier today

[FleaPlus]

It should be noted that this is basicaly the same story as the article earlier today on "Space Race 2.0 has Begun". It's an interesting story, though, and I don't mind seeing another link on it.

Also, for anybody ogling at the $265 million price for the spaceport, this is also about how much an airport might cost. It should also be noted that the UAE is a country where people are spending $1.8 billion on a chain of artificial islands arranged to look like a map of the world.

Re:Ah yes...

[MrDoh1]

Couldn't resist the troll for those who may not know. The UAE is not your typical "Arab nation". In fact, they are quite a bit more friendly with us than many other nations, Islamic, Arabic or not. Here is the State Department's take on the UAE. Actually some pretty interesting information to be had.

attraction.

[wall0159]

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)

Re:attraction.

[thewise1]

As a matter of fact, they are a very worker-hostile country. Labor abuse is a serious problem there, as apparently in order to obtain an exit visa from many of these middle-eastern countries, you need sponsorship from your employer, amounting to an almost forced labor situation in many cases. (reference: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2003/09/19/uae6388.htm ) Many times passports are confiscated, resulting in the inability to leave or in some cases even report this abuse. I've also read another article not too long ago that I can't find now, explaining that many companies import cheap labor from outside the country promising excellent wages and opportunities, but then either cutting the workers pay immediately after they were there, amounting to a situation that many if not most of them can't afford to get out of. They have to work to survive, and never are given enough to get out of the hole and leave. Spaceports are cool and all, but I don't think I'd want to go there to help build one!

Re:attraction.

[wall0159]

good point. Spaceships mostly run on hydrogen. Where's that mined again?

oops. We _can't_ mine it. Hmmm... maybe we have to _make_ it. I wonder how we'd do that? Maybe.. just maybe.. we'd need some other fuel source...

Cheap fuel == Cheap energy. I don't think you'd be arguing that spaceships don't need energy, right kiddo?

Piss-taking aside, some spacecraft actually _do_ use types of hydrocarbon-based fuel. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipropellant_rocket for more info.

Re:attraction.

[Bombula]

I live in the region (Oman, actually, which is much nicer than UAE), and while much of what you say about Dubai is correct, there are some finer points to be aware of that - at least in my opinion - make things even worse.

First, the labor problems apply only to unskilled expatriates from other countries who fail to uphold human rights as they apply to laborers: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand are the primary culprits. Western expats, by contrast, can usually get assistance from their embassy or consolate if something goes seriously sour.

Second, the reason why things go sour is that many employers keep their employee's passports. Westerners can and usually do refuse to cooperate with this, especially Americans (for whom it is illegal to relinquish property of the US government to any foreign interest, as I understand it). Once your passport is in someone else's hands, you're pretty much stuck. I have a Swedish friend who got caught in a nasty bait-and-switch deal after giving over his passport, and who got next to no help from his consolate in the Emirates - he eventually had to be 'smuggled' out of UAE to Oman in order to take legal action to resolve things.

Third, it is very important to understand that 80% of the population of the UAE is expatriate. UAE citizens generally do not work. They are essentially absentee capitalists - owners of property and co-owners (known as 'sponsors') of foreign-owned businesses operating locally. Their guilt lies largely in their complicity with what is almost invariably Indian or Pakistani management in their companies. And Indian and Pakistani middle and upper management is, to a greater or lesser degree, controlled by the Indian and Pakistani mafias. The same 'system' is true for Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iranian, Filippino, and other companies, but they are very much in the minority.

So it is important to realize that it is the mafia rackets who organize on the home country side to sucker these victimized laborers into going to UAE to work, and then trap them once they are there.

There are two underlying problems: the UAE government tolerates this crap, and the home countries do nothing to hold their citizens and/or businesses accountable overseas (No surrise on the second point, just think 'Nike', 'child labor', and 'sweatshops'). Often this is because the same rackets control their own corrupt governments as well.

International pressure has been quite successful in bringing the UAE in line. They have recently come under serious fire for labor conditions, and they have responded quickly in many instances with legislation and brutal penalities on companies in violation.

My recommendation is that if you are willing, help make a fuss and keep stories in the news ad public consciousness, because UAE is one of the few countries that actually responds to activism, protests, and international pressure. For example, in response to international outrage at the the abhorent practice of using children (usually foreign, some as young as 3 years old) as camel jockeys, the UAE responded by immediately banning the practice and requiring - no joke - robotic jockeys to be used instead. Check BBC for the story.

What's so great aobut the location

[putko]

"Because of Ras Al-Khaimah's unique airport and spaceport support facilities, His Highness' commitment to space tourism, and the close proximity to Dubai, one of the world's leading luxury tourist destinations, makes it a choice location for spaceflight operations," said Mr. Anderson. "As a global leader of tourism, the United Arab Emirates is an ideal location for a spaceport. Suborbital flights will offer millions of people the opportunity to experience the greatest adventure available, space travel. We are honored to partner with His Highness Sheikh Saud."

I know that being nearer the equator is better for launch than elsewhere, so perhaps that helps to cut costs.

But in the future, when the Gulf has less income, due to less oil, won't their economies die? I have a hard time seeing them sustaining anything once the lifeblood of their economy is exhausted.

Re:What's so great aobut the location

[FleaPlus]

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.

Re:What's so great aobut the location

[csirac]

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.

Re:Potential Weapon?

[csirac]

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.

Re:Potential Weapon?

[tempestdata]

The largest number of 'westerners' in the UAE are from Britain. Americans come second.

I was brought up in the UAE actually, and people who havne't been there think 'middle east' and go 'OMG! TERr0r1s+!"

Actually, Dubai is often referred to as the Hong Kong of the middle east. Very liberal, very modern, very rich, and quite tolerant.

Re:South-ish

[tempestdata]

Actually Dubai itself has very little oil. Abu Dhabi is the one with all the oil.. Dubai is actually rich because of all the oil money that flows through its markets. Its like the hong kong of the middle east.. nearly all of Dubai's wealth comes from commercial activity.

Re:The UAE is rather active lately...

[tempestdata]

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.

Re:Michael Jackson Sightings

[MichaelSmith]

Actually, MJ is completely broke

Forget suborbital flights. I would be willing to help pay to boost him to escape velocity.

what the hell?

[c6gunner]

As over 90% of the worlds Oil is found in and around middle east

What the hell?

North America 16.48%
Central & South America 8.00%
Western Europe 1.16%
Eastern Europe & Former U.S.S.R. 6.13%
Middle East 57.52%
Africa 7.94%
Asia & Oceania 2.78%


Try again?

Re:Potential Weapon?

[tempestdata]

True.

Sheikh Rashid .. (The current Kings grand father) was known to have once stood up for the Hindus, who have a temple in a region of the city called Bur Dubai. The residents living near the temple started complaining about the sound of the bells from the temple and asked the king to have it moved or demolished.

The King, shook his head and said "If the bells bother you so much, you are free to move elsewhere".

This is especially significant because, Hinduism, unlike christianity is Idol worship. And Islam is strongly against Idol worship...

I dont think there is another hindu temple anywhere else in the Middle east. There is a strong fundamentalist movement in dubai as well, but there is a deep multicultural base to the city, and moderation is strongly enforced. While going to school there, I had friends who were Muslims, christians, hindus, and sikhs as class mates and friends. No one was targetted for their religion in anyway and it wasn't even considered an issue. There were students of many nationalities.. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Arabs, Iranians, Britons, Lebanese, Egyptians, Chinese, Filipino, Sudanese, Tanzanian, Sri Lankan .

In fact, I think Dubai has a greater cultural and religious mix than the US. The native Arabs make up only a fraction of the population.

just like leia

[fishexe]

What you don't realize is, His Highness really hates being called that. Just like when Princess Leia got pissed at Han, he keeps going, "will you stop calling me that?" but since nobody's trying to get in his pants the way Han was, they never stop, they just keep it going 'cause they know it eggs him on.

Hope he doesn't read Slashdot.

[Shag]

He might put you on His no-fly list for your insolence. :)