Saudi Arabia will launch either by the end of this year or early next year six mini satellites for a range of applications, including the location of water and mineral sources, environmental pollution control, urban planning, agricultural production and weather observation. They are part of a group of 24 mini satellites manufactured and designed in the Kingdom by a team of Saudi scientists and engineers as part of a program to harness space technology for commercial purposes, according to Prince Turki bin Saud, vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Research Institutes. He was speaking at an international seminar on remote sensing and its applications opened on Saturday night by Riyadh Deputy Governor Prince Sattam on behalf of Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, the second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation. Prince Sultan underlined the importance of the seminar as a means of sharing knowledge and hoped that the Kingdom will benefit from this exchange of ideas, according to a report published today by Arab News. --MORE 1012 Local Time 0712 GMT
