The UAE Space Agency has issued a public notice granting companies and individuals operating in the national space ecosystem a 90-day grace period—effective 6 July—to obtain or regularise licences and permits in line with Federal Decree-Law 46 of 2023. The announcement, published by Gulf Today on 29 June, applies to satellite operators, launch-service providers, downstream data firms and university research teams. Under the law, unlicensed space activities will attract penalties ranging from financial fines to suspension of operations. Osama Al Shehhi, Director of the Space Licensing & Permits Office, said the framework is designed to foster a “competitive, safe and sustainable” sector that attracts private investment while safeguarding national security. For global-mobility practitioners, the clarification is timely: many aerospace contractors staff UAE projects with short-term engineers and payload specialists who require mission-specific visas.
![UAE Space Agency gives firms 90 days to regularise licences under new space-sector law]()
To simplify the paperwork involved in securing those mission-specific visas, companies can turn to VisaHQ, whose UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) consolidates the latest entry requirements, electronic application forms and courier services for rapid passport processing.
Ensuring that host entities hold valid space-sector licences will become an immigration prerequisite similar to free-zone establishment cards. The UAE’s space industry—anchored by projects such as the Rashid lunar rover and Mars Mission—employs more than 3,500 specialists, many of them expatriates. Companies planning to relocate talent for upcoming satellite-manufacturing or launch campaigns should begin aligning HR documentation with the Space Agency’s permit categories, which cover everything from Earth-observation analytics to space-tourism training. Failure to comply after the grace period could see work-permit renewals denied or equipment impounded at ports of entry. Legal teams should conduct immediate audits of corporate-structure ownership, insurance cover and export-control classifications before submitting licence applications.
To simplify the paperwork involved in securing those mission-specific visas, companies can turn to VisaHQ, whose UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) consolidates the latest entry requirements, electronic application forms and courier services for rapid passport processing.
Ensuring that host entities hold valid space-sector licences will become an immigration prerequisite similar to free-zone establishment cards. The UAE’s space industry—anchored by projects such as the Rashid lunar rover and Mars Mission—employs more than 3,500 specialists, many of them expatriates. Companies planning to relocate talent for upcoming satellite-manufacturing or launch campaigns should begin aligning HR documentation with the Space Agency’s permit categories, which cover everything from Earth-observation analytics to space-tourism training. Failure to comply after the grace period could see work-permit renewals denied or equipment impounded at ports of entry. Legal teams should conduct immediate audits of corporate-structure ownership, insurance cover and export-control classifications before submitting licence applications.
