AzurX
The UAE is reshaping its approach to space, moving away from a government-led exploration program and toward a broader commercial ecosystem spanning Earth observation, communications and deep-space exploration, with Gulf sovereign wealth increasingly treating orbit as a strategic asset rather than a scientific side project.
The numbers behind that shift are substantial. Space budgets across the Middle East and North Africa rose 69% over the past decade, climbing from $1.4 billion in 2015 to $2.5 billion in 2025, and are projected to reach $3.2 billion by 2034. Abu Dhabi satellite operator Space42 and Viasat have committed up to $1 billion in equity to their joint venture Equatys, while Marlan Space’s satellite manufacturing venture Orbitworks represents a $100 million project, and the Altair-Next Gen initiative involves a further $1 billion investment in France.
Orbitworks itself, a joint venture between Marlan Space and U.S.-based Loft Orbital producing satellites at the KEZAD industrial zone, is emblematic of the model the UAE is betting on: foreign technology partnerships paired with domestic manufacturing capacity. Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, CEO of Marlan Space and acting CEO of Orbitworks, is steering that build-out alongside investment partners including Anna Hazlett, founder and CEO of AzurX, a UAE investment firm that has advised Blue Origin since 2021.
The security rationale behind the spending has been sharpened by recent conflicts, which demonstrated that ground-based infrastructure like data centers and radar installations can be disrupted or degraded, while satellites in orbit remain operational. That resilience lesson is shaping how Gulf states now think about the link between space capability and national security.
For sovereign wealth funds like Saudi Arabia’s PIF and the UAE’s Mubadala, space has become a strategic investment priority in its own right, one driven as much by the need for national resilience and technological independence as by the prospect of commercial returns.
