Oman's satellite project panel holds discussions

Muscat: Issues related to Oman satellite project were discussed at a meeting of the panel created for the purpose.
This was the first meeting of the steering panel for the nano satellite.
The panel includes representatives from the Ministry of transportation and telecommunication, Sultan's Armed Forces, Sultan Qaboos University, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and Royal Oman Wireless Amateurs Society as well as the chairman of the society and his deputy and the chairman of the space programmes committee at the society, was held at the headquarter of the Oman Astronomical Society.
Dr. Saleh bin Said Al Shidhani, Chairman of Oman Astronomical Society inaugurated the meeting appreciating the participation of different authorities in this national project for building capabilities and preparation, commissioning and launching the project of first satellite in the Sultanate.
The chairman of the society gave a definition of the programme and the objectives of the proposed space mission which includes monitoring light pollution and eventually monitoring atmosphere and Oman's environment depending on the budget of the project.
Funding of the project and the role of authorities in providing or supporting specialised cadres and the type of the potential scientific load and the expected cost and the necessity of this programme for the Sultanate were also discussed.
Booking of the required frequency for space telecommunications and downloading data were also discussed in the meeting.
Oman Astronomical Society had obtained governmental approval to commence the project in the last quarter of 2017 and related parties were invited for participation.