DUBAI: Omran Sharaf, director of the UAE’s Mars mission, has been appointed as assistant minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to handle the Advanced Science and Technology portfolio.Following a presidential decree issued on Wednesday, Sharaf has become a member of the UAE Diplomatic and Consular Corps with the rank of ambassador, according to a statement from the UAE Government Media Office.
Sharaf led the UAE’s major space project, which has successfully sent the unmanned ‘Hope’ probe to Mars last year in the first Arab interplanetary mission.
He was responsible for developing, launching, and operating space projects at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
Earlier this year, the UAE elected him to serve as the Director of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.