Middle East

Amid ongoing negotiations in Vienna over the country’s nuclear deal, Iran announced that it launched a Simorgh rocket with three research devices into space. It was not specified what the devices were or what they would be used for. Ahmad Hosseini, spokesperson for the Iranian Defense Ministry said that the devices were sent up to a 470 km altitude.

Chief Executives of leading satellite operators announced that the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) is now going to include satellite operators from all over the world. To reflect this, the Association is changing its name to Global Satellite Operators’ Association (GSOA). 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) appointed Salem Humaid Al Marri as the new Director-General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, the agency said. Al Marri, 39, replaces Yousuf Al Shaibani, who served as the centre's Director-General since 2013. Al Marri was part of the team that set up the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology in 2006

In this Space Café Radio – on tour on Mars (5), SpaceWatch.Global contributing editor Dr. Emma Gatti spoke in this fifth episode of our AMADEE-20 coverage with Dr. Robert Wild, Analog Astronaut. Together, they talked about AMADEE-20, the future of Mars exploration, space training and lessons learned from the mission.

ICEYE announced having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing advanced SAR products. The collaboration builds on G42’s recent agreement with Yahsat to develop a geospatial data fusion of different sensor modalities. Finnish Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite and analytics provider, ICEYE

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on Mars? AMADEE-20, a Mars-analogue mission born from the collaboration between the Austrian Space Forum, the Israeli Space Agency and another 25 countries tried to answer this question. From anxiety issues to crew rebellion, this is what they are trying to understand.

Yahsat Government Solutions and G42 Space Program want to work together to deliver AI-enabled remote sensing services to customers, G42 announced. Under the agreement, satellite company Yahsat will make use of G42’s artificial intelligence, cloud computing and analytics capabilities.

I have just come back from the IAC 2021 in Dubai where I enjoyed advocating for end-to-end data security for commercial “newspace” missions. While it was so great to meet colleagues face-to-face and discover the energetic city of Dubai, it bothered me when booking my plane tickets that this trip was to be accounted in my annual carbon footprint.

The 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2021), organised by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), held in the Middle East for the first time and hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) ended on Friday. Over 6,500 delegates from more than 110 countries attended the “Inspire, Innovate & Discover for the Benefit of Mankind” themed event.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening caught up with space Social Media Specialist Remco Timmermans, live from the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) exhibition floor in Dubai. Remco is an experienced space business professional,