Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), has extended his congratulations to 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 and Vice President of the Council of Ministers, and Minister of Defense on the successful launch of the Saudi Sat 5A and the Saudi Sat 5B satellites today, December 7, 2018 at 12:12 pm Beijing time on the Long March 2D from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of the People's Republic of China. Prince Turki said that the achievement is conducted by support and guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the follow-up and care of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, stressing that this achievement comes as a complement to many achievements in the fields of space and aviation in line with the vision 2030 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This achievement comes as a result of the efforts made by the (KACST) over the years in the transfer and development of many advanced technologies, including satellite technologies and the construction of national cadres capable of dealing with these technologies and the establishment of advanced infrastructure, enabling the City to develop and manufacture satellites Saudi Sat 5A and Saudi Sat 5B in its national hands factories. These two satellites will be used to provide government agencies with high-resolution satellite images similar to those in developed countries for use in various fields of development. The two satellites will be managed and operated from an advanced control station located at the headquarters of (KACST). (KACST) has already launched 13 Saudi satellites between 2000 and 2017. It also participated in the implementation of scientific experiments in outer space in cooperation with the US space agency (NASA) and Stanford University on board the satellite SaudiSat 4 in 2014.
