UAE, France sign deal to cooperate on space exploration

 DUBAI, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France on Sunday signed a deal on cooperation in space exploration.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister as well as Ruler of Dubai, and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe attended the signing ceremony of the deal between the UAE Space Agency and France's National Center for Space Studies.

The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the three-day 2018 World Government Summit which started in Dubai on Sunday.

The two leaders lauded the signing of the deal, adding that it is the first step towards paving the way for future cooperation in space.

Also at the summit held under topic "Shaping future governments," the final designs of the Hope Probe, the Arab World's first interplanetary mission, were unveiled, along with details of the Mars 2117 plan, which aims to create the first human settlement on Mars, and UAE's astronauts program.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre also released plans of the "KhalifaSat," the UAE's first completely indigenously built satellite.