King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has concluded developing and manufacturing "Saudi Sat 5A" and "Saudi Sat 5B", two reconnaissance satellites to join the second generation of high-accuracy Saudi remote-sensing satellites to be launched this year. The two satellites were fully manufactured and tested in accordance with the international standards in KACST laboratories with the hands of Saudi expertise and competencies working in the field of satellite industry and development. This national achievement comes as a result of the great support provided by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, for the sector of research and development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia generally and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology particularly. "Saudi Sat 5" is an asset to the accomplishments achieved by the Kingdom in the fields of space and satellites. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology launched 13 satellites and participated in the exploration mission of "Changi 4" Satellite with the Chinese side. KACST provided the advanced services for the remote-sensing system, and launched a developed system for satellite-tracking and controlling of commercial ships which includes a comprehensive daily coverage of ship traffic of up to 30,000 ships around the world. The launch of the two new satellites comes as part of the Kingdom Vision 2030 aiming to localize strategic technologies, maximize local content and empower the Saudi youths gain knowledge of advanced technologies in the development and manufacture of satellites.
