In the 21st-century, the practice of modern astronomy and space sciences reflect the degree of advancement of any nation for instance, how many observatories they possess, how many satellites they have launched etc. Industrialized countries spend hundreds of millions of dollars yearly on research in these fields, since they realize its importance: astronomy & astrophysics as a way to comprehend the Universe, its contents and the physical and chemical processes taking place in it  and consequently our place, as humans, in this vast Universe; and, space science & technology as a tool to understand the Earth and its surrounding environment, and its reactions with the latter  as a way to better control it and make use of it: space weather, satellite meteorology, space telecommunications, global positioning, and remote sensing

However, many developing countries  even among the most educated persons and decision-makers still view astronomy & space sciences as a sort of luxury! It is indeed true that any current investment in such sciences may not have a direct impact on society  though it would certainly have medium- and long-term impacts, some space applications  particularly for developing countries  cannot be underestimated on the sort-term scale, particularly through the usage of satellite technology for disaster management and mitigation, for example.

Moreover, Arabs & Muslims had played a historical role in transferring astronomy from other nations and developing it  the roots of modern European astronomy owe a lot to Arab & Muslim scholars. Therefore, astronomy should not be considered as a newcomer to our corner of the World, on the contrary, it should be viewed as a sort of revival to an ancient science that had once flourished in our region.

With the above-mentioned vision in mind, the Institute for Astronomy & Space Sciences was established at al Al-Bayt University in 1994, by a Royal Decree. Let us bare in mind that if we do not invest a little bit now (in astronomy- and space science-research) we will certainly regret it later.