{"id":782960,"date":"2024-05-27T15:31:56","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=782960"},"modified":"2024-05-27T15:31:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T20:31:56","slug":"saudi-fund-launches-new-group-to-boost-space-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=782960","title":{"rendered":"Saudi fund launches new group to boost space industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/space.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2024\/space.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Credit: Edvin Richardson from Pexels\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Credit: Edvin Richardson from Pexels<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Public Investment Fund (PIF)on Monday launched the Neo Space Group to work on the kingdom&#8217;s nascent satellite and space industry, its first investment in the sector.<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-banner first-banner ads-336x280\">\n         <!-- \/4988204\/Phys_Story_InText_Box --><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>One of the world&#8217;s largest sovereign wealth funds, the PIF has already invested heavily in sports, gaming and so-called Saudi giga-projects including Neom, a $500-billion futuristic megacity under construction in the desert.<\/p>\n<p>The Neo Space Group or NSG is the &#8220;PIF&#8217;s first investment focused on the space industry&#8221;, the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>It &#8220;aims to develop and enhance commercial space operations in Saudi Arabia, providing innovative satellite and space solutions locally and globally&#8221;, the PIF said.<\/p>\n<p>It will also &#8220;invest in localization, technology, start-ups, and knowledge in the space and satellite sector in Saudi Arabia&#8221; in the latest bid to boost economic diversification.<\/p>\n<p>Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, Saudi Arabia has sought both to open up and diversify its oil-reliant economy.<\/p>\n<p>From world-class footballers to a new national airline and even a speciality shop serving camel milk gelato, the PIF has splashed billions on acquisitions intended to support diversification.<\/p>\n<p>The fund has also made high-profile investments in foreign firms including stakes in Uber, electric car maker Lucid and video game company Activision Blizzard.<\/p>\n<p>Domestic investments constitute the vast majority of its portfolio, however.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The establishment of NSG marks an important milestone in the development of the growing satellite and space sector in Saudi Arabia,&#8221; said Omar Al-Madhi, PIF&#8217;s co-head of MENA Direct Investments.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Saudi Arabia sent its first two astronauts into space, including Rayyanah Barnawi, the kingdom&#8217;s first female astronaut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  \u00a9 2024 AFP\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSaudi fund launches new group to boost space industry (2024, May 27)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 27 May 2024<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-05-saudi-fund-group-boost-space.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit: Edvin Richardson from Pexels Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Public Investment Fund (PIF)on Monday launched the Neo Space Group to work on the kingdom&#8217;s nascent satellite and space industry, its first investment&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":782961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phys-org"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=782960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/782961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=782960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=782960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=782960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}