Cleared for Takeoff: The MENA Region’s Top Aerospace Summer Camps for 2026

Welcome, future aviators and space enthusiasts. At Aljaweea, we track Middle Eastern aerospace milestones and tech breakthroughs. However, today our focus  is on our region’s summer classrooms.

For ambitious students, and parents looking to launch the next generation of aerospace careers, we highlight the MENA’s most comprehensive aviation, aerospace, and space summer camps. Driven by regional youth engagement strategies, these featured camps are active and run from July 2026 onwards.

More than recreation, these camps are in fact, future human capital pipelines that secure the next generation of  deep-tech and aviation workforce through hands-on engagement with subjects such as digital planetariums, robotics, and computer numerical control (CNC) machining.

Below is our country-by-country breakdown of the aerospace camps taking flight this summer:

Map showing space and aviation programs across MENA region.
Space and aviation summer camps across the MENA region. Chart: Aljaweea, Source: organisation mentioned in the chart

Jordan

The Jordan Star for Space Science is hosting the SPACE SUMMER CAMP 2026

  • Target Age: School-age students.
  • Dates: 1 July to 30 July 2026.
  • Location: Amman
  • Curriculum Focus: The Middle East’s first four-week camp of its kind, this rigorous 2026 program differs significantly from standard one-week regional models. Subjects include observational astronomy, applied physics, virtual reality programming, and astronomical scientific experiments.
  • Cost: JOD 150

Egypt

Amideast Egypt is hosting a STEAM Summer Lab

  • Target Age: 8 – 10 and 11 – 15 years old.
  • Dates: 2 to 31 July, 2026 and 6 to 31 August 
  • Location: Cairo.
  • Curriculum Focus: Hands-on STEAM, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.
  • Cost: EGP 3,950 per month.

Tunisia

The US Embassy in Tunisia in partnership with Amideast runs the  U.S.–Tunisia Space Camp Scholarship

  • Target Age: 15 – 18
  • Eligibility: Students based in Tunisia with a strong STEM academic record and leadership skills.
  • Dates: One week in July 2026.
  • Location: U.S. Space Camp,Huntsville, Alabama (USA).
  • Curriculum Focus: Immersive space exploration and STEM training at U.S. Space Camp.
  • Cost: Fully funded scholarship.

Bahrain

Gulf Aviation Academy is hosting Aviation Summer Camp.

  • Target Age: 10 to 18 years old
  • Dates: Several 5 day courses throughout July 2026 (5 to 30 July 2026)
  • Location: GAA Training Center, Bahrain.
  • Curriculum Focus: Hands-on aviation experience, learning from aviation experts, and flight exploration.
  • Cost: BHD 80 per child

Kuwait

Kuwait Scientific Centre integrates engineering and celestial sciences seamlessly into its Kids Summer Camp normalising aerospace concepts for younger demographics

  • Target Age: 6 – 12 years old.
  • Dates: ‘Engineering & Technology’ 5 to 9 July,  ‘Space’ 16 to 20 August 2026.
  • Location: Salmiya
  • Curriculum Focus:  Engineering & Technology Week: Explore engineering through collaborative building activities that develop creativity, innovation, and problem-solving to inspire future inventors. Space Week: Culminating a ten-week scientific program, journey across the solar system to explore planets, stars, moons, galaxies, astronaut travel, black holes, and fascinating cosmic facts.
  • Cost: KWD 70 per week.

Kuwait Space Company is hosting the KSC Academy “English through Space Exploration” course

  • Target Age: 10 – 13 years old.
  • Dates: 5 to 30 July 2026.
  • Location: Kuwait City
  • Curriculum Focus: Learning English through space exploration.
  • Cost: Undisclosed

Qatar

Qatar leans heavily on its cultural and research institutions to deliver space and computational education, covering celestial sciences in broader cultural contexts. 

The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) is hosting the 2026 Summer Thuraya Camp

  • Target Age: Boys and girls aged 6 – 12 years
  • Dates: 5 to 29 July.
  • Location: Doha
  • Curriculum Focus: The specialised “Summer Thuraya Camp,” hosted at Building 41’s Al Thuraya Planetarium (Qatar’s first full-dome digital planetarium), engages children in immersive, interactive activities exploring astronomy, planetary weather, and atmospheres.
  • Cost: Participation is free, but advance registration is required. Parents should contact the organisers.

The Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University offers the QCRI Creative Space Summer Camp 2026

  • Target Age: children ages 7 – 17.
  • Dates: various courses between 12 July to 6 August 2026.
  • Location: Doha
  • Curriculum Focus: While not exclusively aviation-focused, it covers space-adjacent STEM skills such as conditional logic and problem-solving by programming Sphero BOLT robots’ lights, sensors, and movements for youth interested in computational aerospace and robotics.
  • Cost: QAR 450 per week.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia offers one of the region’s most technically advanced pipelines, targeting both elite, gifted youth and older cohorts preparing to enter the professional space economy.

In collaboration with King’s College, Riyadh; Nun Academy, Riyadh; and Eton House International School, Riyadh, Ivy Camps USA is holding engineering and STEAM-based camps

  • Target Age: 3 – 14 years old.
  • Dates: 12 to 16 July, Full STEAM Ahead: Motions & Machines; 19 to 23 July, Engineering a Better World with Lego; 26 to 30 July, Innovation with Engineering; 26 to 30 July, Engineering a Better World with Lego 9 to 13 August, Resilience with Space Exploration
  • Location: Riyadh
  • Curriculum Focus: Project-based STEAM and space discovery.
  • Cost: SAR 2,300 (USD 613) per course

King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity’s Mawhiba Academic and Universal Enrichment 2026 Summer Programs offer an “Aerospace & Rocket Engineering” track

  • Target Age: Grades 9 – 11 (specifically Level 3 gifted students).
  • Dates:  5 to 23 July, 2026.
  • Location: In-person (King Saud University Riyadh) and online.
  • Curriculum Focus: Flight dynamics, projectile motion simulations, bioethics, and the ethics of space exploration.
  • Cost: Mawhiba summer programs range from SAR 345 to SAR 2,300, depending on the program. Prices vary based on whether the course is in-person, online, or a specialised international program, with partial exemptions available for qualifying students.

The Saudi Space Agency has launched the SSA Space Academy Training Programmes

  • Target Age: Senior university students, recent graduates, and working professionals.
  • Dates: Multiple short courses ranging from 2 days to 2 weeks in an array of space related fields throughout the year including the summer period.
  • Location: Live-online and in-class (Riyadh).
  • Curriculum Focus: Space economy, space law, satellite design, and microgravity research.
  • Cost: Free.

4. Saudi Space Authority Space Academy, in partnership with Aramco Digital is running the SARI Initiative — University Satellite Design Competition (2nd Edition)

  • Eligibility: Undergraduate STEM students enrolled at a university within Saudi Arabia (Saudi and non-Saudi nationals both eligible)
  • Format/Location: Team-based (4–5 students per team); remote participation with possible in-person sessions at SSA HQ, Riyadh
  • Curriculum Focus: Full cycle of small-satellite design and build; finalist teams receive manufacturing materials. Develops engineering, research, and space systems skills.
  • Cost: Free. A sponsored educational competition designed to foster innovation and national talent in space sciences.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE operates the most structured and well-resourced summer camp system in the region, capturing early teens with inspirational programmes and advancing older youths into rigorous vocational engineering tracks.

Students launching a water-powered rocket on a grassy field.
Students from UAE schools participate in a water rocket competition. Handout: Emirates Aviation University

Louvre Abu Dhabi is running the Louvre Abu Dhabi Space Camp

  • Target Age: 5 – 12 years old
  • Dates: 1 to 4 July,  8 to 11 July, 29 July to 1 August
  • Location: Abu Dhabi
  • Curriculum Focus: Rocket making, space communications systems, moonwalk experience (linked to Picturing the Cosmos exhibition)
  • Cost: AED 400

Space and Rocketry Academy UAE (SARA) supported by the UAE Space Agency and NASA, is running its Summer Space Explorer and Tech Camps in conjunction with the Lab of Future Summer Camp 

  • Target Age: 6 – 18 years old
  • Dates: 3–5 day programmes year-round, including summer.
  • Location: Dubai; school partnerships across the UAE.
  • Curriculum Focus: NASA & Roscosmos curriculum, UAE space programme, model rocket building and launch, Moon/Mars exploration.
  • Cost: 1 week AED 950 or 2 weeks AED 1,600

Emirates College for Advanced Education is holding the ECAE Summer Camp. Although not an aviation or space camp it is heavily technologically focused.

  • Target Age: 7 – 18 years old (exclusively for “Students of Determination”).
  • Dates: 27 to 28 July and 29 to 30 July, 2026.
  • Location: Abu Dhabi
  • Curriculum Focus: Accessible hands-on exploration of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, and Fab Lab innovation.
  • Cost: Undisclosed

The Mohammed Bin Rashed Space Centre is holding the MBRSC Summer Space Explorer Camp

  • Target Age: 12 – 14 years old.
  • Dates: Boys from 13 to 16 July 2026; Girls from 20 to 23 July 2026.
  • Location: Dubai
  • Curriculum Focus: UAE space missions, robotics, scientific experiments, and direct interactions with Emirati astronauts.
  • Cost: AED 1,000 

Emirates Aviation University is hosting the EAU Aviation Summer Camp

  • Target Age: 17 – 19 years old (11th grade onwards).
  • Dates: Several five-day sessions running between 6 July to  7 August 2026.
  • Location: Dubai
  • Curriculum Focus: Hard vocational skills bridging high school and university, including aeronautical engineering, CNC machining, drone systems, and wind tunnel experiments.
  • Cost: Traditionally free or highly subsidised by the Emirates Group

UAE Space Agency (UAESA) in collaboration with NASA is hosting International Internship (NASA I²)

  • Age/Eligibility: UAE citizens; undergraduate or graduate STEM students; GPA ≥ 3.0; IELTS 6.5 / iBT 79
  • Location: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California (USA)
  • Curriculum Focus: Research alongside NASA mentors in entry systems, aerosciences, air traffic management, astrobiology, space & Earth science, and more. Cross-cultural exchange component.
  • Note: Highly selective; limited places. Contact UAESA directly for the annual application cycle.

Regional Programmes

For those looking to engage with peers beyond their own borders, Amideast is operating a major cross-border initiative this year.

Amideast in conjunction with Boeing is running the AeroSTAR Program.

  • Target Age: 15 – 18 years old. 
  • Eligibility: Eligible applicants must be residents of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, or the United Arab Emirates and possess sufficient English proficiency to engage with the training content.
  • Dates: In 2026 the core 60-hour academy is delivered over a 10 to 12 week period.
  • Format/Location: A regional, multi-stage model. The initial academy and national pitch competitions are held locally within each participating country (Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and the UAE). Following the national challenge, the winning teams advance to a 3-day regional culmination camp held in Jordan.
  • Curriculum Focus: Exploration of aviation and aerospace concepts, hands-on STEM skills development (including critical thinking and problem-solving), virtual and physical field trips to airports and specialised aviation facilities, and a team capstone innovation project.
  • Cost & Funding: The regional workforce initiative is funded by Boeing; however, any specific out-of-pocket cost for the participating students remains undisclosed online.
  • How to Apply: Students can find application deadlines and the online signup link for their specific country directly on the Amideast AeroSTAR application page.

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