In recent years, the Middle East has witnessed a tremendous growth in commercial, civil, and military space activities. For a region known for ethno-religious conflict and vast energy resources, what has motivated the birth and growth of these programs? To what extent do regional politics shape the development and trajectory of space programs? Is there a Middle East space race? This paper surveys the development of the Israeli, Egyptian, and the Emirati space programs to illustrate the extent to which the trajectories of their space programs are related to regional politics. These cases illustrate how a variety of regional political considerations related to security, prestige and economic development have and may continue to shape their space programs. For example, Israel developed its space program for national security reasons and focused its efforts on intelligence and reconnaissance. It has become a world leader in small-satellites because geopolitical realties have forced them to focus on less efficient launches with smaller payloads. Egypt established its program for economic development and to acquire status by claiming leadership in its peer-group of African nations. The U.A.E.’s ambitions in space are motivated by a vital need for economic diversification, driven by large-scale development plans, and by a desire to acquire prestige. This prestige is associated with space leadership at the regional as well as the international level, which Emiratis hope will inspire a STEM oriented, knowledge-based economy.

中文翻译：

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中东太空竞赛？动机、轨迹和区域政治

近年来，中东地区的商业、民用和军事太空活动取得了巨大增长。对于一个以民族宗教冲突和丰富的能源资源而闻名的地区，是什么推动了这些项目的诞生和发展？区域政治在多大程度上影响太空计划的发展和轨迹？中东有太空竞赛吗？本文调查了以色列、埃及和阿联酋太空计划的发展，以说明其太空计划的轨迹与地区政治的相关程度。这些案例说明了与安全、声望和经济发展相关的各种区域政治考虑如何已经并将继续影响其太空计划。例如，以色列出于国家安全原因制定太空计划，并将重点放在情报和侦察上。它已成为小型卫星的世界领导者，因为地缘政治现实迫使它们专注于有效载荷较小、效率较低的发射。埃及制定了经济发展计划，并通过在非洲国家中占据领导地位来获得地位。阿联酋在太空领域的雄心壮志源于对经济多元化的迫切需求、大规模发展计划的推动以及对获得声望的渴望。这种声望与地区和国际层面的太空领导地位息息相关，阿联酋希望这将激发以 STEM 为导向的知识型经济。