Middle East

WAM/SWGL - The UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has shortlisted 15 space technology startups for its "Innovation Challenge," as part of its participation in the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition's (GITEX) Future Stars.

Israel’s Gilat and Brazil’s Hispamar have announced a partnership that will launch satellite-based broadband services throughout Brazil in order to expand Internet access and bridge the Digital Divide.

Israel’s Space Agency (ISA) and the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology announced on 10 October 2018 that they will support the Lunar projects of the SpaceIL organization with up to U.S.$2 million in funding.

A team from the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has successfully completed pre-launch tests in Japan of the Earth observation system KhalifaSat, the first satellite to be entirely built in the UAE by Emirati engineers.

The Virgin Group, the parent company of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, has withdrawn from all discussions over a U.S.$1 billion investment in its space activities with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) following the alleged torture and murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2 October 2018.

Pioneering NewSpace company, Satellite Vu, will take part in GITEX Future Stars, the fastest growing start-up event in MENA and Southeast Asia.

The UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the European Space Agency (ESA) to define frameworks for potential cooperation in space science and technology and capacity building for human spaceflight activities. This took place on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) …

The French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), has opened a liaison and representative office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, marking deeper and strategic relations in space matters between the French agency and the UAE Space Agency.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has developed and manufactured SaudiSat-5A and SaudiSat-5B, two high-resolution Earth observation satellites to be launched later this year from China.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing a large constellation of Earth observation nanosatellites to provide persistent overhead reconnaissance and ballistic missile early warning over countries and areas of concern to Israeli national security, as a supplement to Israel’s existing satellite reconnaissance capabilities and U.S. ballistic missile early warning satellites.