CRISTIAN MORELLI | After many decades of lost interest into space exploration, two new regional powers are on the rise: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to the significant budget allocated to their national space programs, the two countries are demonstrating renewed attention to space missions and investments that may allow the MENA region to become a new powerhouse in a sector which has been dominated since the 1960s by the US, Russia and only recently China, India and the EU. Considering the MENA region as a new hub for space investments will depend on the current and future successes of, as well as on the total number of yearly, space missions and defense projects.