Events

The attempted coup by elements of the Turkish military on Friday, 15 July 2016, in an attempt to depose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP Party, included an attack against the main campus of TÜRKSAT located in Gölbaşı, just outside of the Turkish capital of Ankara. The TÜRKSAT headquarters …

Haifa, 17 July 2016 – A crew of 104 participants boarded the Technion Israel Institute of Technology last week, embarking on an eight-week deep dive into everything space. The first ever Space Studies Program (SSP) in the Middle East started with a grand opening ceremony with space professionals from 24 …

The Berlin, Germany-based start-up and Google Lunar X-Prize competitor, PTScientists , were invited on the evening of 14 July 2016 to the prestigious Volkswagen Forum, on Unter den Linden in the heart of Berlin, to present the ALINA lander to interested members of the press. Robert Böhme, CEO and Founder of …

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) and Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd (GES) announced on 12 July 2016 a new partnership to go beyond Earth’s orbit and provide a new model of low cost, high value, space exploration and science. With the ultimate aim of supporting a Solar System network, the SSTL-GES …

  In our effort to reach as large an audience as possible, and provide our readers with a variety of ways to interact with space activities in the Middle East and North Africa, SpaceWatch Middle East is now on Instagram. If you are already on Instagram then please be sure …

The head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), Mohsen Bahrami, announced on 12 July 2016 that Iran will launch at least two indigenously built satellites by March 2017. Speaking at a press conference, Dr. Bahrami said, “At-Sat [also known as AUTSAT-1], Nahid 1, and Dousti are the satellites their design …

One senior Arab space official is once said to have quipped that his country does not need a meteorological satellite since he knows what the weather will be next year, never mind tomorrow. Jokes aside, the Middle East has a more varied climate than many suppose, and has weather variations …

Haifa, 12 July 2016 . Today is an important day for the space sector in the Middle East. It is the opening day of the 29th Space Studies Program 2016 of the International Space University. The event will finish on 1 September 2016. This prestigious post graduate university program is …

Egypt, backed by Syria, has proposed an in-depth discussion on using satellites to counter terrorism at the United Nation’s space body, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The proposal came in the form of a short paper titled “Combating Terrorism using Space Technology,” drafted by Egyptian …

The Iranian Space Agency (ISA) completed its conceptual design for a manned spacecraft, including a human-rated space capsule and a launch vehicle, according to a report from Iranian news outlet, Tasnim News Agency. The human-rated space capsule will weigh one ton, and will be launched into space and safely returned …