Middle East

Diplomatic efforts are gathering in the Middle East and North Africa toward the development of a regional mechanism for space cooperation and development among Arab countries. At the recent Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi, the region made progress toward establishing an Arab space organisation.

The maritime sector of today is more connected than ever before. Vessels of all kinds have effectively become floating offices where the same level of connectivity is in demand at sea as on the shore. Communications on board assist shipping fleet owners, cruise ships and also owners of smaller vessels and yachts to become more operationally efficient and to keep both crew and passengers happy by enabling them to access their mobile devices even whilst away at sea.

The head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA), Morteza Barari, announced on 3 June 2018 that all current Iranian satellite projects are funded until the end of the Iranian fiscal year ending 21 March 2019.

Satellite-based navigation and timing plays an intrinsic role in modern communications, intelligence collection and electronic warfare systems. Yet, surprisingly, the deployment of measures that can protect these assets against incidents of attack such as jamming is not carried out. This leaves these critical systems vulnerable and exposed to attack by even low-power jammers, leading to disruption and potentially dangerous situations.

After a troubled launch earlier this year, Yahsat's Al Yah-3 communications satellite is now operational, and it is ready to propel the UAE-based company into new markets.

The UAE Space Agency is participating in the high-level SpaceOps 2018 conference, hosted by the French space agency, to exchange detailed technical and mission data for the upcoming Emirates Mars Mission. Space Ops is a biannual international forum for discussing advanced and technical areas of space exploration. The 2018 event, hosted by the French Centre National d'études Spatiales (CNES), takes place 28 May - 1 June 2018 at the Palais du Pharo in Marseilles.

The UAE’s American University of Sharjah (AUS) has created a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Physics with an emphasis on space sciences. This degree programme will include internships at the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, as well as a possible small satellite building initiative.

Israel’s Spacecom, the troubled operator of the AMOS fleet of communications satellites, has postponed its U.S.$112 million contract with Space Systems Loral (SSL) to build the AMOS-8 satellite. Instead, Spacecom has come to an interim agreement with SSL and has a 30 day extension to raise the necessary funds for the initial down payment that will see the contract reinstated and work begun on the satellite.

The decision by the board of Israeli satellite communications company Spacecom to buy its AMOS-8 satellite from US satellite manufacturer Space Systems Loral (SSL) over Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has unleashed political controversy in Israel and revealed a potential corruption scandal within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Troubled Israeli commercial satellite operator Spacecom has won a U.S.$55 million contract from an unnamed customer to use the AMOS-17 satellite to broadcast content to the African continent. AMOS-17 is being built by U.S. satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems International and is scheduled to be launched by SpaceX by mid-2019, and is to replace AMOS-5 – built by a Russian manufacturer – that failed in orbit in 2015 after only four years operation of what should have been a fifteen year mission.