Muscat: With the planned launch of its first indigenous satellite slotted for a date in 2024, Oman is poised to usher in a new era of technological prosperity for the Sultanate – The much-coveted, Space Age.

As a concrete step towards realizing that ambition, The Government of Oman has floated out a tender towards appointing an international consultant. The primary role of the consultant will be to advise the Sultanate towards the development of a streamlined strategy, which will enable Oman to be a part of the select few countries that will have ventured out into space.

Earlier, the sole responsible entity for developing a national policy was government-owned Space Communications Technology LLC (SCT). They were tasked with developing the country’s first communications satellite. Thus, to garner international support and bolster the effort, the decision was made by The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), to release a global tender inviting qualified international consultants.

The Ministry stated that space is vital to Oman’s socio-economic development and stated, “Due to the importance of current essential services aided by space/satellite technologies (eg: telecommunications, earth observations, environmental monitoring and protection, border monitoring and national security, meteorological services, etc) the country aims to reap the advantages of the sector in a strategic and well-coordinated approach.”

Furthermore, the SCT commented that “This project is considered as one of the strategic projects that Oman is planning, namely, to launch the first national satellite system with national, regional and global coverage, however with the primary TT&C (telemetry, tracking, and control subsystem) to be located in Oman,”