by Paul Liias Today the Space sector is growing faster than ever before and it opens up new opportunities and avenues for new players. To leverage these global developments, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia has created a new Estonian Space Policy and Program, for the period …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: The UAE and “the next frontier” – why we are keen to develop our space program, and doing so in a hurry
By Talal Al Kaissi How things began, and where they are now: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has long looked to space as a domain we would like to make a meaningful contribution to for a variety of reasons. A meeting between our late founder and President Sheikh Zayed with the Apollo …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Holidays in space: is the SpaceX Demo-2 launch the primer to a large private spaceflight industry?
by Hamza Hameed and Brendan Rosseau On 30 May 2020, two American astronauts made history by taking part in the first crewed orbital flight ever operated by a private commercial launch service provider. The SpaceX Demo-2 launch marked an important moment in the development of a private space launch industry …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Resurrecting OneWeb – What impact for the global space industry?
by Steven Freeland and Francois Lambert Later this month, on 26 June, a flurry of companies will make their final bids to acquire OneWeb, Greg Wyler’s prised space start-up. The winning bidder could be a private company, perhaps backed by a major space power. Whoever is successful will have the opportunity …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Doing An Iridium
By Ronald van der Breggen Our industry is sometimes difficult to understand. OneWeb recently filed for bankruptcy, letting go of most of its staff, but then only a couple of days later they filed for an expansion of their fleet to 48,000 satellites. Huh? They started in 2015 announcing 1,600 …
Read More »SpaceWatchGL Opinion: COPUOS at a Crossroad – Challenges And Achievements From The Past Guide Us To The Future
By Ken Hodgkins The COVID 19 pandemic has ripped apart all sectors of the world’s societal fabric and rendered economies to a state of paralysis. Multilateral space diplomacy has not been immune to this chaos. This year for the first time the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the …
Read More »SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Five Thoughts On The Artemis Accords, And Another One For Israel
By Dr. Deganit Paikowsky Last week, NASA released “The Artemis Accords: Principles for a Safe, Peaceful and Prosperous Future.” The aim of the Artemis program, according to NASA, is to “[L]and the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, heralding in a new era for space …
Read More »SpaceWatchGL Opinion: NewSpace Entrepreneurship In The United States
By Jeff Krukin At the end of the first Terminator movie, a young boy says, “There’s a storm coming.” This comes to mind for two reasons: First, in my talks both to and about NewSpace entrepreneurs, I sometimes refer to them as Terminators because, like that almost unstoppable menace in …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Moon Junk – Responsible Management Of Lunar Orbital Debris
By Yoav Landsman in collaboration with Catrina Melograna We have much to gain by making the Moon humankind’s next destination. We can practice living and working on another world, operate autonomous machines from great distances, and utilize the natural local resources. It is a natural step on our way to …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Japan’s New Space Domain Mission Unit And Security In The Indo-Pacific Region
By Yuka Koshino Japan’s establishment of the Space Domain Mission Unit, which is planned to become fully operational in 2023, reflects the country’s increasing reliance on space systems to meet its security needs. It could emerge as a key actor in the defence of space assets in the Indo-Pacific. In …
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