Middle East

Tel Aviv-based satellite communications company Spacecom has announced that it will provide satellite communications to the D-MARS Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station, to take place in the desert of southern Israel. Using its AMOS-7 satellite, Spacecom will provide space-based connectivity for the mission that involves analog astronauts in a Mars …

Speaking at the 13th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference in Tel Aviv this week, the Director-General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner, said that discussion are underway for Israel to cooperate with the pan-European space agency under a “special arrangement.” In an interview with The Times of Israel, Wörner …

After a fraught launch on January 25, 2018, where Arianespace failed to receive telemetry from the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) at a critical stage during liftoff, the two satellites placed into Earth orbit by the launcher are said to be recoverable. Both Yahsat and SES have stated that …

Is the Middle Eastern satellite broadcasting market ripe for disruptive innovation? With new methods of content delivery through social media and mobile devices, and the advent of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain technologies, ThorGroup’s Torsten Kriening argues that satellite broadcast companies operating in the region have little reason to feel …

Early indications suggest that Arianespace has successfully launched Yahsat’s Al Yah-3 and SES’s SES-14 communications satellites into geostationary orbit. The launch, designated VA241 by Arianespace, was conducted by an Ariane 5 space launch vehicle from the Kourou space launch centre in French Guiana, located in Latin America. An Arianespace press …

Arianespace have completed the integration of Yahsat’s Al Yah-3 communications satellite to the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) that is due to launch it and another satellite on January 25, 2018, from the Kourou launch facility in French Guiana. The other satellite, SES-14, belonging to satellite communications provider SES, …

VSAT network supplier and operator Bentley Walker has announced that it will launch its iDirect-based DVB-S2X service in Afghanistan. The launch of this service follows successful rollouts in Iraq and Libya by Bentley Walker. The iDirect-based DVB-S2X desktop modem will allow users to access high-throughput broadband internet using Avanti’s Hylas …

Arabsat Broadband Services has launched a new satellite broadband service called Arabsat Expand, offering 10 Gigabytes of Internet broadband access powered by Forsway’s Hybrid Router technology. Arabsat Expand has been designed and implemented by SatConsultant for Arabsat Broadband Services. The new service aims to bridge the digital divide in Africa, …

Rocket Lab has successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing. Electron lifted-off at 14:43 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Following successful first and second stage burns, Electron reached orbit and deployed customer …

During a state visit to India made 14-18 January, 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi further cemented ties between the two countries with a range of agreements that cover cooperation in a number of areas, to include space. In a joint statement issued on …