Iranian and Azerbaijani officials signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for space cooperation between the two countries, days before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on 8 August 2016. Iranian Minister for Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Azerbaijani Minister Communications and High Technologies Ramin Namigoglu …
Read More »Israel’s ImageSat to provide satellite imagery for Rio Olympics security
ImageSat International N.V., the Yehuda Or, Israel-based commercial satellite imagery company, has been selected by the Brazilian Ministry of Defence to provide Brazilian authorities with high-resolution satellite imagery to provide security monitoring of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro beginning on 5 August 2016. ImageSat operates the …
Read More »Iran and Russia to jointly build a remote sensing satellite for Tehran
Iranian press reports claim that Iranian industry and as yet unnamed Russian satellite manufacturers are to jointly build a National Remote Sensing Satellite for Iran. Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, recently completed an official visit to Moscow where he met with several Russian government officials and …
Read More »Virgin Galactic gets important go-ahead for resuming flight-testing
Virgin Galactic, the spaceflight company founded and owned by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, received an important regulatory go-ahead on 1 August 2016 to resume flight-testing of its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST) awarded Virgin Galactic an operator license for SpaceShipTwo. The …
Read More »Russia’s RSC Energia to help Egypt build EgyptSat-A remote sensing satellite
The Moscow, Russia, headquartered Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) revealed on 28 July 2016 that it has signed a deal worth U.S.$100 million to help build the Egyptsat-A, the replacement for Egyptsat-2 that in April 2015 failed in orbit after only a year after its launch. Egyptsat-A is …
Read More »UAE students gain space experience at Senior Space School UK
The UAE Space Agency announced on 28 July 2016 that it is sponsoring a group of UAE students to attend the Senior Space School UK program, run by the physics department at the University of Leicester. The Space Agency’s participation in the program, which is to be held between 30 …
Read More »Intelsat-33E readied for late August launch and Middle East coverage
Intelsat S.A., operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, announced today that Intelsat 33e, the second of the Intelsat EpicNG series of high throughput satellites (HTS), arrived at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, where it will undergo final preparations before its …
Read More »The Audi Lunar Quattro moon rover is coming to the Bir Zekreet desert in Qatar
Doha, July 27, 2016: The PT Scientists are aiming high – they are shooting for the Moon. By the end of 2017, a group of 30 scientists and engineers wants to send an unmanned rover to the Moon as part of the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP) competition which was proclaimed …
Read More »Kuwait mulling development of a national satellite capability
The Kuwaiti cabinet, the Council of Ministers, is considering the acquisition and launch of a satellite, according to local reports in Kuwait City. Draft legislation has been submitted to the cabinet from the Communications and Information Technology Commission. The reports say that the cabinet has formed a committee to examine …
Read More »Airbus launches ‘One Tasking’ satellite imagery acquisition and delivery system
Airbus Defence and Space launched its latest development in satellite imagery acquisition and distribution, One Tasking. Representing a major step change, One Tasking offers customers the most intuitive and cost-effective way to rapidly task an Airbus Defence and Space’s satellite – all from the comfort of their own desk. The …
Read More »