Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Kingdom to host region's first
space project
The complex will be built on a 400-dunum site on the Airport Road
AMMAN (JT) — The Kingdom has been chosen to host the region's first permanent
space project including a scientific entertainment complex and a space training
centre to train future Jordanian astronauts.
The $150 million multi-stage project to be launched this week, is funded
entirely by Russians representing the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC)
and other space-related establishments with the objective of promoting Russia as
an investment giant in the business world.
The complex, to be built on a 400-dunum site on the Airport Road, is expected to
take four years to complete, according to Issa Mutalika, public relations
manager of the International Community of the Foundation for Support of Aviation
and Cosmonauts, the Russian centre's representative regional office in Jordan.
The first stage, scheduled to be completed within 14 months, will feature a
space museum displaying a model of the Soyuz station, (the longest serving
manned spacecraft in the world) in addition to space equipment. The second stage
will take two years, overlapping with the first phase, and include a space
adventure park.
“The project will put Jordan firmly on the map for space tourism, attracting
millions of visitors annually and providing employment opportunities for
hundreds of Jordanians,” said Mutalika.
The official documents of the project have been submitted to the responsible
authorities and the registration procedure for the regional office is currently
being processed, according to Mutalika.
As part of the project, a Jordanian pilot will be chosen to undergo astronaut
training in Russia — the name of the successful candidate, however, is yet to be
announced.
“The pilot will receive six months of training in the GCTC, located in Star City
near Moscow,” Mutalika said.
To date, only two Arab astronauts have been into space — Saudi Prince Bandar Ben
Salman and Mohammad Fares of Syria.
The project was originally scheduled for Dubai, “but with His Majesty's visits
to Russia and the investment environment in Jordan, the decision was taken to
build the project in Amman,” Mutalika said.
An eight-member Russian delegation from GCTC was in Amman last month to prepare
for the launching of the project.
The delegates met with top officials, among them Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Industry and Trade Mohammad Halaiqa, Minister of Education Khalid
Touqan, and Jordan Investment Board Director General Reem Badran.
GCTC is a Russian state institute, which was established in 1960 to develop the
scientific and technical prerequisites for space flight, and is responsible for
the training of all Russian cosmonauts, including the first man in space Yuri
Gagarin, who flew into orbit in 1961.
Originally named the Cosmonauts Training Centre, Gagarin's name was added in
1968, after the hero's tragic death in a plane crash.