Opinion

By James Yenbamroong Mankind has always been defined by our collective curiosity. We constantly push for greater things, expanding our knowledge and influence over the world around us. Some achieved things that were previously thought impossible. The Wright brothers flew the first fixed-winged aircraft, Yuri Gagarin was the first man …

By Ronald van der Breggen When talking about GEO versus NGSO systems – predominantly LEO and MEO – one typically ends up in a discussion about latency and how MEO and LEO are capable of offering much lower latencies relative to the traditional GEO satellites. Alternatively one may also end …

By Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan ISRO recently announced its plans to undertake a mission to Venus in the early 2020s and has also invited international proposals for scientific payloads. Since the successful inter-planetary mission to Mars in November 2014, India’s civil space organisation, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has been …

Saadia Pekkanen, University of Washington As an international relations scholar who studies space law and policy, I have come to realize what most people do not fully appreciate: Dealing with space debris is as much a national security issue as it is a technical one. Considering the debris circling the …

By Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan As the Asian Century takes on an interstellar dimension, who will write the rules of the road? Rajeswari Rajagopalan writes that space will likely be no exception to Asia’s great power rivalries. The outer space environment has undergone significant changes in the last decade. Countries in …

By Dr. Vasilis Zervos and Christopher Gorham The benefits of space to the Middle East and North Africa region are undeniable, yet there is no single representative body to champion the sector. The near total inexistence of coordination or even collaboration has resulted in calls for the creation of a …

By Dr. Christopher Newman The passage of the UK Space Industry Act 2018 into law has not, as yet, seen any further developments, however crucial questions in relation to liability, insurance and charging still need to be addressed. There has been a call for evidence to inform on these crucial …

By Sergey Kutovoy The huge expansion in the space industry, with a rapidly growing market and new satellite applications, is revolutionary but financing many of these projects is still a challenge, especially for small investors who have something to contribute to this revolution and want in. The space market saw …

By Dr. Olga Stelmakh Space activities are risky and challenging by their nature due to their reliance on highly sophisticated technologies, and the impact of a variety of factors on their successful conduct and significant investments at stake. However, we have been accustomed to such activities being performed by traditional, …

By Helen Jameson The past few years have seen the satellite press column inches dominated by excited talk of new mega constellations. We have learned how thousands of small satellites are going to transform connectivity for billions around the world. I should know, I am one of the people that …