NEW SPACE FACILITY IN MUSLIM HEAVYWEIGHT COUNTRY

Malaysia Spaceport Project

The project will occupy 150 acres, south of Malacca at Bandar Jasin Bestari, which is being developed by the government as a smart modern township.

“Spaceport Malaysia” is a suborbital space centre which will be finished in 2015 in Malacca, the most popular tourist destination in Malaysia. The project will consist of two geographical areas: Malacca Space Center and Spaceflight Terminal, and the two areas will be physically connected to each other.

This new space facility is Malaysia’s first centre for operations of below-orbital spaceplane for space tourism, low-earth orbit research, commercial zero gravity flights, rocket propulsion research and development, in addition to spaceplane development, aerospace themed education and entertainment destination.

Malacca space center will consist of a university with a zero gravity research programme, a spaceplane and astronaut hall of fame, bungalows with lunar architectural concept, a space resort, a space theme park and few conventional developments including a service apartment and shopping outlets.

These developments will occupy a land of 150 acres, 20 km south of the town of Malacca at a place called Bandar Jasin Bestari, which is being developed by Malacca state government as a smart modern township.

This first phase of the project is also planned to be a green energy zone, where hybrid and electric vehicles will be promoted, besides the application of solar energy and rain water harvesting.

About 20 km to the north of Malacca space center is the Malacca international airport, where the spaceflight terminal will be located.

This terminal, the second geographical component of the project, will be physically connected to Malacca space center via a dedicated light rail system. The terminal will be the last stop for astronauts and space tourists before they are to be carried spaceborne by suborbital tourism vehicles.

The entire project is owned by Malaysia Space Tourism Society, while the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) is the consulting partner in space safety, which is the major policy in the planning, design, development and operation of the spaceport and its components including the spaceplane.

The project partner which is developing the spaceplane is the German Talis Enterprise GmbH which settled upon calling the spaceplane as “Enterprise”.

“Enterprise” will be the official suborbital spaceplane of Spaceport Malaysia. It will be the rocketplane that will be operated at Malacca international airport with its administration center at Spaceflight Terminal.

It will be able to carry six passengers to 130 km above sea level, and the passengers will experience a few minutes of zero gravity and have the opportunity of viewing the earth curvature from space.

Prior to the flight, the passengers will be trained, certified and prepared for a few days at Malacca Space Center.

The ticket for the whole package inclusive of the training, certification, preparation, and flight for each passenger is expected to be in the range of €150,000.

Space Mosque

It’s a matchless facility which will stand as a mosque with Islamic art decorations and revelations from the Holy Qur'an which describes space travel. One more unique and very important idea that has been planned in the project is a space mosque.

"Enterprise rocketplane" will be able to carry six passengers to 130 km above sea level, and the passengers will experience a few minutes of 0-gravity.

The space mosque won't only function as a conventional worship house for prayers, but also as a visitor center where Muslims and non-Muslims can learn about space travel, understand the contributions of Islam and Muslim scientists to the development of space travel and encouragement provided by the Holy Qur'an on space travel, science and technology.

The unique building will be equipped with a large praying hall and an exhibition hall as well.

“This idea was encouraged by our own experiences where at our center of operation in Shah Alam, Malaysia there is a big mosque, and all our visitors who are space economists and scientists had visited it they had found the visit to be very enjoyable,” Norul Rizduan, the Founder and the President of Space Tourism Society Malaysia Chapter, and an IAASS Board Member told OnIslam.net.

“In fact, our Chief Project Advisor, Dr. Patrick Collins who is an expert in space economy had recommended that we build Space Mosque at Spaceport Malaysia, and later we finalised to build it at Malacca Space Center,” Rizduan continued.

The planning and the design of Spaceport Malaysia are now on progress, while land purchasing will begin by the end of this year.

The project’s construction is divided into four phases; the first phase will be focused upon finishing the establishments of the proposed university with zero gravity infrastructures, in addition to the laboratory dedicated for the research and development of Enterprise suborbital rocketplane.

This initial phase will begin in the early months of the next year and it is expected to be complete by end of 2014.

By this time, both the second and the third phases of Malacca space center, in addition to the fourth phase of the Spaceflight terminal will have started too. The project wholly is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.

The computer simulation study, wind tunnel modeling and remote control scaled model of Enterprise rocketplane have all been accomplished.

By the end of this year, the design and construction of the manned prototype of the spaceplane, which can carry a pilot and a passenger will start and it's anticipated to be complete and able to fly to space at the end of 2014. "Enterprise" is projected to be ready to carry passengers to space on daily flight by early 2016.

Why Malacca?

The host city of the spaceport, Malacca, is a historic coastal southwestern Malaysian city which has a very special segment in the history of the Asian nation . The region has always been addressed as, “the historic state of Malacca”, and the town of Malacca was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 7, 2008.

The government of Malacca was found in 1400 with the establishment of the Malacca Sultanate.

By the end of the 15^th century, Malacca had become an empire which had occupied the whole Peninsula Malaysia and most of Sumatra, Indonesia.

However in 1511, Malacca was occupied by Portugal, in 1641 by Dutch and in 1824 by Britain.

The British occupation lasted until the Independence of Malaysia on 31 August 1957.

These historical facts will be part of the philosophy in the planning and design of Spaceport Malaysia at Malacca.

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