UAE at 50: How the Emirates went to space



Since the formation of the Emirates in 1971, the country has become a close friend and strategic partner of the UK.

In this miniseries, The UAE at 50, we examine how the relationship between the UAE and Britain has developed over the past 50 years.

In this episode, we take a look at the giant leaps made in the UAE’s STEM fields and how exchanges with the UK have helped to launch the young nation's space programme.

The UAE launched the Emirates Mars Mission last year and is already collaborating with other countries such as the UK on a project to build the first human settlement on the planet by 2117.

We talk to Alia Al Mansoori, an aspiring Emirati astronaut and student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and mechanical engineer Nora Al Matrooshi, who became the first Arab female astronaut after joining the UAE's astronaut corps.

Hosted by Layla Maghribi

Interviewed by Sarwat Nasir

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Updated: December 01, 2021, 4:00 AM