The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, visited the facilities of Virgin Galactic at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on 2 April 2018. The Crown Prince and his delegation, which included the Saudi ambassador to the United States Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, were hosted by Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group, and by George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic.

The Ukrainian national space agency, the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU), is proposing to build a space launch centre in northwest Australia according to a report published in The West Australian newspaper. The SSAU is proposing that the Western Australian State and Australian Federal Government provide a commercial lease …

The proposed national space programme of Ukraine for 2018-2022, and prepared by the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU), could be submitted to the government for consideration in April 2018, according to a source in the Ukrainian space and rocket industry, reports Interfax-Ukraine. “At present, the agency has completed the …

Thai satellite operator Thaicom announced that it has appointed Anant Kaewruamvongs as its new Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Board.

The UAE has become a trailblazer in the Arab world in the field of space and satellite technology, an effort that is a part of a wider economic diversification initiative by the UAE government to ween the Gulf Arab state off of its economic dependency on hydrocarbons. It appears that neighbouring Gulf Arab countries are taking note, as a recent visit to the UAE Space Agency by a prominent delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia demonstrates.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed on 1 April 2018 that it had lost contact with the GSAT-6A communications satellite that had just been launched on 29 March 2018.

The Israel Space Agency is collaborating with NASA, CalTech, and the Weizmann Institute to develop ULTRASAT in the search for supernovae. The ULTRASAT, or Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite, is a mission which will launch a small satellite carrying a telescope with an unprecedentedly large field of view.

Bangladesh’s space ambitions are closer to reality. The Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite has been shipped to Florida for its upcoming launch. The satellite’s manufacturer, Thales Alenia Space of France, has sent it from its warehouse in Cannes for arrival on 30 March 2018.

The recent InSpace Forum held in Moscow demonstrated progress in cooperation and dialogue between Russia's state-run space companies and its fledgling New Space sector, reports Anastasiya Svarovskaya. The InSpace Forum 2018 held in Moscow on 21 March 2018 considered ways for the business sector and the state to cooperate in the space industry. This year’s forum was the third such event, and it consisted of two sections – the commercial space industry section and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) section.

Thailand’s mu Space is partnering with True Digital Park to establish a small satellite laboratory in Thailand and kick-start a New Space ecosystem in Southeast Asia. Digital hub True Digital Park announced its partnership with satellite technology startup mu Space Corp. to operate a lab that will research and develop satellite and space technology.