As part of the official visit of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, to Japan, the Bahrain Space Agency signed Friday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to strengthen cooperation in the space sector.
The MoU was signed on the Bahraini side by Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on the Japanese side by Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA, in the presence of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Aseeri, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Space Agency, underlined the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment to advancing its space sector and building national capabilities in this promising field by fostering partnerships with leading international agencies and benefitting from their expertise.
He noted that the MoU will expand the scope of bilateral cooperation in areas such as research and development, exchange of expertise, training, and joint projects. It will also promote scientific and technical collaboration in peaceful space exploration, support the growth of the space industry, and strengthen capacity building, education, and outreach, alongside other relevant domains that contribute to the sustainability and development of the sector.
The Bahrain Space Agency (BSA) was established by Royal Decree, in line with His Majesty’s vision: “To promote Bahrain to a position of international prominence in the field of space science for the purpose of achieving comprehensive and sustainable development.”
BSA focuses on harnessing space technologies for national development, promoting space science and applications, developing advanced space research programs, ensuring capacity building, and creating a new space sector in the Kingdom.
BSA is working closely with ministries in the Kingdom, identifying their needs, and planning to provide enhanced space-based technology services for governance and development. It is also working with universities on exciting potential new space missions to advance research and development in space sciences.
BSA vision’s is to promote Bahrain to a position of international prominence in the field of space science for the purpose of achieving comprehensive and sustainable development.
BSA’s mission is to apply integrated initiatives and programs to respond to national requirements and to sponsor and develop space scientific technological activities, research and concepts for achieving comprehensive and sustainable development.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was born through the merger of three institutions, namely the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). It was designated as a core performance agency to support the Japanese government's overall aerospace development and utilization. JAXA, therefore, can conduct integrated operations from basic research and development, to utilization.
In 2013, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its founding, JAXA created the corporate slogan, "Explore to Realize," which reflects its management philosophy of utilizing space and the sky to achieve a safe and affluent society.
JAXA became a National Research and Development Agency in April 2015, and took a new step forward to achieve optimal R&D achievements for Japan, according to the government’s purpose of establishing a national R&D agency.(BNA; BSA; JAXA; Logo © BSA)
