Middle East

Bahrain became the second Arab country to sign the Artemis Accords, an international agreement outlining the peaceful and responsible exploration of the Moon and space in general. The announcement was made during Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad's visit to the US last week.

Iran likely had a failed satellite-carrying rocket launch while attempting to jumpstart the country’s space program criticized by the West. The Associated Press saw Maxar Technologies’ satellite images showing scorch marks at Imam Khomeini Spaceport’s launch pad. The rocket stand seems to be damaged, with an object and vehicles surrounding it.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global Publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Ran Livne, the Director-General of the Israel-based Ramon Foundation. In 2015, the organisation became the world’s first nonprofit to pilot and manage a human-crewed space mission.

This Space Café WebTalk will feature Ran Livne, Director General of the Ramon Foundation, in conversation with Torsten Kriening, publisher of SpaceWatch.Global. A conversation about the upcoming Rakia mission. Ran has been the director-general of the Ramon Foundation since June 2015

The Sultanate of Oman, Virgin Orbit, small satellite manufacturer and operator SatRevolution, AI data analytics specialists TUATARA, and technology innovator ETCO, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on Oman’s first mission to deep space. The consortium will also deliver additional small satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), including the first in Oman’s history.

Israel signed onto Artemis Accords to land astronauts on the Moon and establish a long-term human presence there as a base for future Mars missions, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology announced. The Artemis program establishes principles of cooperation, sustainable human presence on the lunar surface and space exploration in general.

Former fighter jet pilot, Eytan Stibbe, is scheduled to become the second Israeli astronaut and the first to go to the International Space Station (ISS) in March this year. The Rakia mission will bring 35 scientific and technological experiments into space, based on their potential and possible economic impact.

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