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Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority is promising to slash approval times for commercial space launches to as short as 45 days, potentially removing a bottleneck that could attract global rocket operators to the country’s new Etlaq Spaceport in Duqm.
Etlaq Spaceport, which has so far hosted two suborbital test flights, aims to become a hub for research institutions and commercial rocket firms operating in both suborbital and deeper space, its CEO Azzan Kais Al Said said in an interview. The facility, in the south of Oman on the Arabian Sea, is at 18 degree north latitude and faces open eastern waters that are ideal for sending rockets to space, he said.
The initiative gels with Oman’s Vision 2040, which aims to diversify the economy and includes technology and commercial space among its focuses. By bringing rocket makers and research institutions to the sultanate, the spaceport can open up opportunities for Omani firms to provide services to “meet the needs of the launcher,” he said. The spaceport is planning a training program to teach Omanis how to conduct launch operations.
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Shortening approval times will give governments and private operators more flexibility to deploy satellites for communications, defense, or other needs quickly. According to Al Said, the spaceport would be an attractive base for European and Asian rocket companies, as well as researchers looking to conduct microgravity experiments.
“The need to get things into space is only going to increase, and the launch locations around the world are limited, for different reasons,” Al Said said. The market is currently dominated by SpaceX, he said, but competitors will gain share over the next decade, and Oman wants to be the launchpad. “We strongly believe in our product,” he said.