Middle East

The UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) announced on 2 November 2019 that it has commenced work on the Smart Map of Natural Capital of the UAE.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, solutions and services and China Satellite Communications Co., Ltd. (China Satcom), announced on 29 October 2019 the strengthening of the already established strategic partnership to jointly provide advanced satellite communication services covering: Aero, Land and Maritime fixed and mobility applications.

Within one year of its launch, KhalifaSat captured 7,250 high-quality images and was able to complete 5,431 low Earth orbits, and communicated with the ground station at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) 906 times to send information and images, and receive updates.

The UAE, represented by Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, Director-General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), received the organising committee flag for the 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which is set to be held in Dubai in 2020.

Eutelsat has signed a letter of agreement with Thales Alenia Space for the procurement of EUTELSAT 10B, a new all-electric satellite built on the Spacebus NEO platform.

The UAE Space Agency, represented by a high-level delegation led by Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency, is participating in the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2019.

Ankara recently hosted its Turkey-Italy Innovation Day event where space cooperation between the two countries was highlighted by senior officials and corporate executives. Among the agenda items of the event was a common desire to increase space cooperation and satellite development between the two countries.

The head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA), Morteza Barari, has said that Iran is looking to open discussions with Russia about the possibility of sending an Iranian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), according to Iranian press reports.

Algeria and Russia discussed expanding space cooperation and increased development of Algerian space capabilities during a visit to Algiers by a Russian delegation consisting of officials and executives from the Russian state space agency Roscosmos, Russian commercial launch provider Glavkosmos, and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Electromechanics (VNIIEM) that is responsible for developing sensors for environmental monitoring, meteorological, and other remote sensing satellites.

The head of the Egyptian Space Agency announced that Egypt intends to send an astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) during a visit to Cairo by a delegation from the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) on 16 October 2019.