The Deputy Director of the Iranian Space Agency, Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, told Iranian journalists that Iran plans to build and launch its own high quality and indigenously built remote-sensing and telecommunications satellites by 2025. “A 10-year plan has been put on the agenda for the construction of two remote sensing …
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 …
Read More »Turkish satellite experts attend AzerCosmos workshop
Experts from the Turkish Research Institute of Space Technology (TÜBİTAK UZAY) visited the Azerbaijani space agency, AzerCosmos, at their Baku headquarters on Monday, 13 June 2016, according to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies. The experts from TÜBİTAK UZAY were trained by AzerCosmos experts on definition of satellite …
Read More »UAE Space Agency and NASA partner up for space exploration
The United States and United Arab Emirates have entered into an agreement to cooperate in aeronautics research, and the exploration and use of airspace and outer space for peaceful purposes, working together in the peaceful use of outer space for the benefit of humanity. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and UAE …
Read More »NASA’s Charlie Bolden: Bringing Humans to Mars and Humanity Together
Charles Bolden, the administrator of the US space agency NASA, is visiting the Middle East to encourage greater international cooperation in the exploration of the planet Mars. Before departing Washington, DC, on 3 June 2016 for his visit to Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Bolden wrote on his …
Read More »What we’ve been reading this week…
Welcome to a new, occasional, series of posts where we share with our readers the things that have caught our attention over the past week, and which inspire and inform us in reporting and analyzing space activities throughout the Middle East. First up, and with Ramadan being observed by Muslims …
Read More »Es’hailSat and Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority to cooperate on Earth observation satellites
Es’hailSat, The Qatar Satellite Company, announced on 8 June 2016 the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) for the joint development of satellite services. Es’hailSat’s President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari and QCAA’s Chairman Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al …
Read More »Es’hailSat’s Es’hail-2 undergoes vacuum chamber test in Japan
Executives from Qatar’s Es’hailSat and Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Space Systems (MELCO) gathered in Kamakura, outside of Tokyo, Japan, to observe the vacuum chamber test of Es’hail-2. MELCO, who were awarded the contract to build Es’hail-2 in 2014, hosted their Qatari clients on 4 June 2016. Es’hail-2 is based on MELCO’s …
Read More »Israel Aerospace Industries announces “on-the-move” personal military SATCOM terminal
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on 7 June 2016 the release of its compact Phased Array SATCOM for ground soldiers at EUROSATORY 2016. The ELK-1882A “On-the-Move” (OTM) Personal SATCOM micro-terminal provides personal bi-directional voice and data communication for lower echelon ground combatants. Designed by IAI’s ELTA Group, the ELK-1882A micro-terminal …
Read More »NASA Chief visits Israel, Jordan, and UAE for Mars exploration cooperation talks
Charlie Bolden, the administrator of the US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is currently visiting the Middle East to discuss possible cooperation on exploration of the planet Mars with regional space agencies. Mr. Bolden has already visited Israel, and will next visit Jordan, the United Arab …
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