KACST scientists work on the components of a Saudi remote sensing satellite ahead of its launch. (SPA)

The International Conference on Remote Sensing concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), which sponsored the event, announced plans to launch a new satellite in cooperation with China which will upgrade its remote sensing facilities and services in the Kingdom.

Badr Al-Swaidan from the Institute of Space and Aviation Research of KACST said the city had completed preparation for the components of the Saudi satellite (Saudi SAT 5B) which is locally made. It will be launched by the Chinese space rocket (Long March 2D) to support remote sensing services in the Kingdom.

The project is within the framework of cooperation between the Kingdom and China in scientific fields which also includes the establishment of a genetic studies project.

He pointed out that KACST would work in cooperation with the Chinese navigation satellite on scientific studies to develop reception systems and the use of the Chinese navigation satellite system (similar to BeiDou Satellite Navigation System) and GPS. The systems will work efficiently in the Kingdom because of joint research which includes system monitoring and performance evaluation systems and integration.

According to an official from the organizing committee of the International Conference on Remote Sensing, there were more than 800 local and international delegates from different parts of the world.

“The conference, with a concurrent exhibition, was held under the patronage of the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and was a big attraction for those interested in space technology,” he said.

The three-day event was co-sponsored by Saudi Aramco and other companies in the country. More than 30 national and global companies took part in the exhibition which ran concurrently with the three-day conference.

During the four-day conference, some 44 scientific papers were presented by local and international delegates.

A number of Saudi youths who have graduated in space technology in various Saudi universities displayed their achievements in various pavilions at the exhibition.

Anas Khalil Dahlawi from Falconviz, a company displaying services such as aerial mapping and aerial videography at the exhibition told Arab News that they had a drone mini-plane manufactured locally to take 3D aerial surveying.

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