<p>The United Arab Emirates on Monday announced it would be sending two astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019. ;</p>
<p>Emirati astronauts Hazza al-Mansouri, 34, and Sultan al-Neyahdi, 37, will &ldquo;raise the bar of ambitions for future Emirati generations,&rdquo; tweeted UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed.</p>
<p>Last year, Sheikh Mohammed promised to send four Emirati astronauts into space before the end of 2022. ;</p>
<p>The UAE has invested ;$5.4 billion in a space program that aims to send an Arab-built satellite into space ;this October. Emirati scientists are also working on a probe that is set to orbit Mars by 2020.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The astronaut program would make the UAE one of only a handful of states in the Middle East to have sent a person into space, as it looks to make good on a pledge to become a global leader in space exploration,&#8221; reports <em>Newsmax. ;</em></p>
<p>Thinking long-term, the UAE wants to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2117. Construction is already underway on a &ldquo;Mars City&rdquo; in Dubai that will simulate life on the red planet. ;</p>
<p>Dubai&rsquo;s space program is unique to the Middle East, and the UAE hopes to become a regional hub for space technology as it moves away from oil and gas. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This region was a strong contributor to society over 1,000 years ago,&rdquo; says Salem Humaid AlMarri, assistant director general for science and technology at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time that we come back, it&rsquo;s not impossible&hellip;The UAE is leading by example. We are showing that we can do it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>In the background you have a global space competition that has China aiming for the moon and Trump dreaming about weaponizing space. ;</em><em>It&rsquo;s not surprising the Middle East would want to participate &#8211; if nothing else just to have the expertise to be able to send a person into space. </em></p>
<p><em>Only two Arabs have ever been to outer space &#8211; Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, who flew on a US mission in 1985, and Syrian air force pilot Muhammed Faris, who spent a week on the Soviet Union space station Mir. ;</em></p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> This appears to be the Islamic world attempting to compete in the newly renewed space race. A &#8220;global leader&#8221; they will never be, but if Trump&#8217;s Space Force is formed, and the corresponding Chinese space objectives are realized, it may be their only possibility to be militarily adeqaute.</p>