Over half of the countries in the MENA (Middle East and Africa) region have, or have had, government space programme.

"While the UAE has positioned itself as the regional leader in space, other countries are also increasing their level of investment and ambition in space programmes," said Simon Seminari, principal adviser at Euroconsult, a consulting firm specialising in space markets.

Space spending in the MENA region has nearly doubled in the past decade, from a total of $755m in 2010 to nearly $1.3bn in 2020, according to Euroconsult's market intelligence report on government space programmes.