The Moon is rapidly becoming the destination of choice for space agencies and companies since it poses less technical and financial risk than going directly to Mars. ThorGroup GmbH’s intern in Washington, DC – Nickolas J. Boensch – explores the emerging ‘Moon Rush’ and the possible roles and opportunities for …
Read More »Refugee camps at Syrian-Jordanian border have expanded rapidly, according to UN analysis of UrtheCast satellite imagery
The Syrian Civil War continues unabated, as does its human suffering. Satellite technologies play an important role in monitoring the Syrian conflict and are used by humanitarian agencies to try and help those who are suffering the most. Theras Wood of Canadian Earth observation company UrtheCast provides an account of …
Read More »Satellite spectrum issues for the Middle East: an interview with Hans-Juergen Tscheulin
Space and satellites are often treated as an intrinsically exciting and glamorous field of activity. Yet the issue of spectrum requirements, regulatory filings, and spectrum management are all too often considered to be unglamorous, and as a result are unfairly and dangerously ignored. The reality is that without a competent …
Read More »Audi Lunar Quattro rover survives the desert of Qatar
On 29/30 July 2016, SpaceWatch Middle East accompanied PTScientists in the desert of Qatar to test their Audi Lunar Quattro rover that they hope to send to the Moon by the end of 2017 to win the Google Lunar X-Prize. SpaceWatch Middle East COO Torsten Kriening spoke with PTScientists CEO …
Read More »Current issues in Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management
The geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite belt is a unique location above the earth affording a continuous line-of-sight to satellite uplink and downlink stations. The volume defined by this belt is large, but available slots are limited. During the last fifty years of the space age, this volume has become …
Read More »The New Asian Space Race
Asia is home to three established space powers – Japan, China and India – and there are several new players, some with rising aspirations of reaching the Moon, thus giving way to a new competition in Asia. The fact that six of the ten countries – China, India, Iran, Israel, …
Read More »ArabiaWeather: Jordanian company is talking about the weather
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 …
Read More »The Spectacular Rise of the UAE Space Agency and the Challenges Ahead
Where does the UAE Space Agency go after the Hope Mars Mission is achieved after 2021? Building and sustaining success, and therefore public and political support, is a challenge for all space agencies. The solutions to this challenge, however, can only be found in the United Arab Emirates. ThorGroup’s Chairman …
Read More »Interview: The European Union’s Copernicus Programme and the Middle East
The European Union’s Copernicus programme is a boon for analysts and researchers around the world since it provides all of the imagery taken by its Sentinel earth observation satellites for free. SpaceWatch Middle East interviewed Andreas Veispak, the acting Head of Unit for Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, …
Read More »The astropolitics of Iranian-Turkish competition in Central Asia
As both Iran and Turkey look to Central Asia to enhance their diplomatic and economic prospects and standings, space cooperation will become a more important and useful tool for gaining relative geopolitical advantage in the region for both countries. Who is better able to exploit the opportunities for space cooperation …
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