Manama, Mar. 12 (BNA): The National Space Science Agency (NSSA) said that the components of the emblem of Bahrain’s first full-fledged satellite, “Al-Mundhir”, are intended to reflect its mission and the team behind it.
Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Asiri, CEO of the National Space Science Authority, explained that the standard protocol for space missions requires the design of a specific logo that depicts the main goal and indicates the identity of the organization or countries responsible for it.
His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa revealed the name of Al-Mundhir and the motto of his mission, National Security Adviser, Commander of the Royal Guard, and Secretary-General of the Supreme Defense Council.
Al-Asiri said that this is a historic moment in the nation’s march under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and with the support of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
He explained that the logo was designed by Aisha Al-Haram, an aerospace engineer at the National Security Agency for Space, to embody the distinguished efforts of the Bahraini space team working on the Munther satellite.
He added that they are making history in advancing the progress of advanced science in Bahrain, which is a strong indicator of the nation’s progress.
The Al Haram Foundation, from NSSA, was proud to see the logo it worked to unveil by His Highness Sheikh Nasser.
She explained that the design of the logo is inspired by its main objective, which is to capture images of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its territorial waters.
The images will be used to conduct several studies and to build an updated national database of satellite images.
The logo shows a camera lens through which a map of the kingdom is seen. The map is drawn with lines and dots to symbolize the Bahraini artificial intelligence innovations carried by the satellite.
This AI innovation will be used to process and analyze space images before they are sent to the ground station.
The stars in the logo indicate the number of Bahraini engineers who worked on the design, construction and testing of Al Munther.
She said that they worked hard to contribute to the development of the space sector in Bahrain, in implementation of the vision of His Majesty the King and the directives of His Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
She added that the logo is surrounded by the Bahraini flag on both sides to indicate that the satellite was built entirely by Bahraini engineers.
“The name of the satellite in the logo is written in Arabic to reflect the Arab and Islamic identity of the Kingdom.”
Speaking about the details of the satellite, Dr. Al-Asiri said that it was the first of its kind in the Middle East equipped with artificial intelligence technology to process and reduce the size of satellite images using deep learning.
He explained that this innovation is being implemented to solve the limited communication bandwidth, which is one of the critical challenges facing nanosatellites.
He explained that the processing of data and images on board the satellite enables it to provide accurate information in real time for use in remote sensing applications.
Al-Haram indicated that Al-Mundhir also dealt with aspects of cybersecurity, which are among the main challenges facing the space sector and national security.
In this regard, she said that Bahraini software has been developed to encrypt the data sent and received via the satellite.
“The system identifies the satellite operator using a fuzzy logic algorithm to protect the satellite from hacking.”
Al-Mundhir will give impetus to NSSA’s efforts in space research and contribute to finding solutions to the challenges facing satellites in their orbits.
NSSA works to highlight all Bahraini space achievements by documenting them in scientific papers presented in specialized and well-known scientific conferences and journals.
NN