Bahrain firm to offer satellite services.

Byline: Manama

A Bahrain-based company will soon offer services provided by a constellation of satellites it has acquired.

The 1.5 billion euro ($2 billion) deal has been signed between Wall Street Organisation, Bahrain, and OHB, a German satellite manufacturing company.

The deal, the first of its kind in the world, would enable governments, private clients, universities and even law enforcement agencies and the military to hire its services for high-class observation of the Earth and its imagery, Wall Street Middle East operations director Dr Farid Alshabbar told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

'We are to buy the satellite system, equipped with modern technology and high image quality, to take very clear images of Earth,' he said.

Alshabbar said that the main uses in this part of the world would be meteorological and weather-related.

'However, there are other uses like geological surveys, studies of the desert and the crust of the Earth,' he said.

Alshabbar said that the company hopes to attract the military and police agencies for specified uses.

'This is a cost-effective way to use the satellite imagery because everyone cannot afford to launch these into space,' he said.

OHB representative Dr Hans Martin Broun said the high resolution of the new German technology would exceed the current standards for satellite imaging in the Middle East.

'The better the resolution, the better the interpretation of images,' he said.

'The practical use of this technology can be specifically utilised for high-level global security as well.'

Dr Braun, who is a professor at the Institute of Navigation, University of Stuttgart, Germany, and the owner of Radar Systems Technique (RST) in Switzerland and Germany, said the new technology was very useful in the Gulf region, especially in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

'This technological innovation can be used during peace and international crises by submission of timely and accurate information on events such as earthquakes, sandstorms, desertification, ice and fire among others,' he said.

'Scientists can determine the location of hazards more quickly and accurately.'

Dr Braun said that radar imaging would be possible at any time of day and night, even with sand storms, fog, rain and clouds.

'We can rely on these images, obtained from the radar, under any circumstance and at any time,' he said.

Dr Braun said the constellation would include six radar satellites as one, to provide high-resolution images and two satellites for environmental monitoring and two satellites for high-quality optical images.

'Once the system has been installed, it will open the way to control the ground,' he said.

Wall Street Organisation Bahrain president Stephen Cole said the constellation would also provide the capability of generating 3D-images.

'However the new technology will extend this methodology to high-resolution images and allow generating 3D-images of structures like buildings, and bridges,' he said.

Wall Street Organisation opened its Middle East headquarters at the Bahrain Financial Harbour in January this year.

It is a financial marketing company specialising in the marketing of capital formation for standard and securities transactions within the Middle East.- TradeArabia News Service

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