Serco, an international public services company, has officially launched its Middle East Space division, during its participation at the SpaceOps conference in the UAE.
In conjunction with this, the company has announced the appointment of Amar Vora, transferring from the UK Space division, as the leader of the regional space team.
Internationally, Serco is a leading name within the space industry, with over 2,000 specialists currently employed in the sector across the globe. For more than 40 years, Serco has supported both civil and military space programmes including for the European Space Agency (since its inception), the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Space Command.
This wealth of knowledge and expertise will be brought to the region with the establishment of Serco Middle East’s Space division to support the ambitious Vision 2030 goals of both the Saudi Space Commission and the KSA government, as well as activity in other local markets, bringing national visions to life.
An international team from Serco is at the 17th SpaceOps event, including Vora. SpaceOps is hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre at Dubai World Trade Centre from March 6 to 10.
With more than a decade of experience in the industry, Vora has worked closely with several government space agencies – including the European Space Agency, leading on solution development in space sustainability, earth observation, space data services and more.
In addition to building on Serco’s long-standing international experience, Vora and his team will prioritise local hires and capacity building, offering training and robust career development programmes. This is reflective of the strong skills agenda that Serco offers in other markets, which includes the training of engineers across Europe and the UK to support government programmes.
Serco plans to establish local capabilities across the full range of advisory, consultancy and operational space services they currently offer globally, which span the full lifecycle of a mission, from spacecraft and mission design through to data management, operations and decommissioning, including spacecraft control, ground segment operations and engineering.
Phil Malem, CEO at Serco Middle East, said: “In establishing our Middle East Space division, Serco will be bringing decades of experience and expertise to a region where capabilities might still be relatively new, but there is very much the potential and resources to quickly become one of the leading countries worldwide in the space industry.
“Amar Vora is a highly skilled member of our international space division and under his guidance we will be building a local division, with locally trained team members, that will support both the goals of the Saudi government and Saudi Space Commission within Vision 2030, as well as providing extensive space services for the benefit of local governments and the private sector across the region.”
Daniel MacGregor, Corporate Development Director at Serco, who is overseeing the strategy that has brought the Space division to the region, said: “Serco’s Space division is both adaptable and agile in the work we currently do globally – which is well-suited for the new, emerging space market in the Middle East. Our approach is going to push boundaries, with a wide scope for innovative, experimental work to reach the big, but achievable ambitions of the Saudi government, Vision 2030 and beyond.”
Vora added: “It is an honour to be asked to lead the charge in such an exciting region, that we truly believe is going to be breaking new ground in what we can do in space. As a team, we are also very much looking forward to harnessing the capabilities and skillsets of local talents on the ground to achieve great things together. The opportunities for Saudi in space, and indeed the region, are literally infinite.” - TradeArabia News Service
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