Nestled inside a protective aluminum shell is a silicon disc about the size of a United States half dollar. Inscribed on this disc are microscopic messages from leaders of 73 nations solicited by Thomas Paine, then head of NASA. The messages, intended to be left on the Moon for posterity, …
Read More »Facebook Building LEO Broadband Satellite To Bridge Digital Divide In Africa
Social media giant Facebook has confirmed that one of its subsidiaries, PointView Tech LLC, is building a satellite dubbed Athena that will be placed in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and provide Gigabite-quantity Internet services in digitally deprived areas such as Africa. The project marks Facebook’s entry into the commercial competition to …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Interviews: Andrea Jaime of Space Generation Advisory Council
The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is carrying out critical work in terms of inspiring and guiding young people that wish to forge careers in the space industry. This support is provided by a dedicated team working at SGAC that are constantly focused on the delivery of the organisation’s vision. …
Read More »Zimbabwe Creates National Space Agency – ZINGSA
Zimbabwe has become the latest African country to create a national space agency to help enable the country’s economic and social development and growth. The announcement of the agency was made Tuesday, 10 July 2018, by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who hailed it as a “milestone,” according to various press reports. …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Op’Ed: UNISPACE+50: It Was The Best Of Times – It Was The Worst Of Times
By Dr. Michael K. Simpson The good, the bad, the great, and the ugly were all on display as the United Nations community gathered in Vienna last month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first UN space policy conference. Dubbed UNISPACE+50, the celebration commemorated UNISPACE I, a conference that …
Read More »Côte d’Ivoire To Acquire Earth Observation Satellite From Airbus, Rejects China Great Wall Industry Corporation
France’s Airbus Defence and Space appears to have beaten China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) in a bid to provide an Earth observation satellite for the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), the West African nation that was formerly a French colony. Ivory Coast has been seeking its first satellite to monitor …
Read More »Two Soyuz launches planned from Kourou this year
Not three, but two launches may be performed from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou until the end of 2018 as one of them is expected to be moved to 2019, says a source at the cosmodrome as quoted by RIA Novosti. ‘One Soyuz launch is likely to be moved …
Read More »Satellite Initiative For East Africa Agreed By Heads of State
An agreement has been reached for the launch of a common satellite that will serve the East African region and enhance coverage. The decision was made during the 14th Summit of the Heads of State of the Northern Corridor. It is envisaged that a common satellite would provide the East …
Read More »Planet and Airbus Collaborate on New Satellite Imagery Products
Taking the best of both company offerings, Planet and Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly develop a new range of satellite imagery products. Both companies have different strengths. Planet’s small satellites deliver daily global coverage of the Earth in lower resolution and Airbus delivers high resolution, but with less …
Read More »South Africa Eyes Potential Space Partners
The South African Trade and Deputy Minister, Bulelani Magwanishe, told the UNISPACE+50 High-Level Segment of the 61st session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPOUS) in Vienna, that South Africa is keen to develop global partnerships in the space arena. He reiterated that the …
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