NEOM, OneWeb to Strike Pioneering Partnership

Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Authority, Eng. Abdullah Al-Sawaha announced a pioneering partnership between NEOM and OneWeb company, worth $200 million, that will provide a satellite network to change the face of broadband Internet, throughout the Middle East and Africa, and enabling new business models.

During a discussion panel entitled “The Connection of the Digital Economy to the Space Economy”, as part of the activities of the 5th edition of the Future Investment Initiative conference, he stated that “During the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of Twenty last year, it has taken upon itself to reduce the digital divide, because we do not accept the exclusion of billions of people from participating, in the digital economy, due to their inability to connect to the Internet, and we do not accept that the school digital experience offered to a child living in a remote area, to be less than the one we all enjoy.”

Saudi space sector constitutes a great opportunity for investors, noting the large area of the Kingdom and its proximity to the equator make it an ideal location for launching satellites, expecting to launch 15,000 satellites by 2030, he explained.

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology has partnerships with the California Institute of Technology and Stanford to establish centers of excellence, and a Saudi research team will join aboard the Chinese space station, in 2022, he elaborated.

Al-Sawaha stressed that the international demand for investment in the space economy is huge, and over the next two decades, the global space economy, which is worth more than $400 billion today, is expected to grow to $1 trillion.

The participation of the Ministry and the Saudi Space Authority, represented by the Minister, aims to enhance the Kingdom’s leading role in the ICT sector and the space field, develop new opportunities and motivate foreign investors and companies, to join the rapid developments witnessed by the sector and emerging technology sectors, in the Kingdom, in addition to attracting foreign d investors and companies.