RIYADH — King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has developed and manufactured "Saudi Sat 5A" and "Saudi Sat 5B", two reconnaissance satellites to join the second generation of high-accuracy Saudi remote-sensing satellites to be launched this year.

The two satellites have been fully manufactured and tested in accordance with the international standards in KACST laboratories by Saudi expertise and competencies working in the field of satellite industry and development.

This national achievement comes as a result of the great support provided by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, for research and development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general and KACST in particular.

"Saudi Sat 5" is an asset to the accomplishments achieved by the Kingdom in the fields of space and satellites.

KACST launched 13 satellites and participated in the exploration mission of "Changi 4" Satellite with the Chinese. KACST provided the advanced services for the remote-sensing system, and launched a developed system for satellite tracking and controlling of commercial ships, which includes a comprehensive daily coverage of ship traffic of up to 30,000 ships around the world.

The launch of the two new satellites comes as part of the Kingdom Vision 2030 aiming to localize strategic technologies, maximize local content and empower the Saudi youth gain knowledge of advanced technologies in the development and manufacture of satellites. — SG