In Part Four of the SpaceWatch Middle East multi-week theme on China’s Space Silk Road and the Middle East, Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi, India, offers an Indian perspective on China’s Space Silk Road, and points out that despite the rhetoric from Beijing, …

In the second part of the SpaceWatch Middle East multi-week theme on China’s Space Silk Road and the Middle East, Dr. Bleddyn E. Bowen of King’s College London, probably the greatest space power theorist in Welsh history, makes the case that space powers in the Middle East have a cornucopia of choice …

In Part One of this multi-week SpaceWatch Middle East Theme on the Chinese Space Silk Road and the Middle East, we invited Dr. Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) to provide an overview of the Space Silk Road for readers. The emergence of China’s Belt and Road …

Centuries ago, China and Europe were connected by a number of trade routes across the Eurasian landmass and the Indian Ocean that were later known as the Silk Road. These Silk Roads not only connected the ancient Chinese Middle Kingdom and Medieval Europe, but also connected regions of Eurasia that …

STATEMENT BY SIMONETTA DI PIPPO DIRECTOR UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS (UNOOSA) Sixtieth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Vienna, 7-16 June 2017 Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, On behalf of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, I warmly welcome you all to the sixtieth …

Iran launched its Simorgh space launch vehicle (SLV) into space on Thursday, July 27, 2017, from the Imam Khomeini Space Centre. The Simorgh SLV (Farsi for ‘Phoenix’) was not thought to have carried a payload. The U.S. Air Force’s Joint Space Operations Centre (JSpOC) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in …

Thuraya Telecommunications Company signed a MoU with Huawei at the INTERPOL WORLD 2017 exhibition, held from July 4-7, 2017, in Singapore. This important global event was an occasion to showcase several initiatives in public safety by different organizations. Thuraya’s partnership with Huawei specifically merges innovative capabilities for crisis and disaster …

The second contribution to the #SWMEThemes week on the Middle East and Space Resources is by Ben Baseley-Walker, the Senior Director for Global Engagement for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Planetary Resources. Ben argues that Gulf Arab countries have an opportunity to lead in the coming race to exploit space …

On the anniversary of Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, more than 700 events in 190 countries will take place to mark Asteroid Day. On June 30, 1908, an asteroid devastated 2000 square kilometres of forest in Siberia. In 2016, Asteroid Day was sanctioned by the United Nations, as …

According to Euroconsult’s newly released research report, Government Space Programs: Benchmarks, Profiles and Forecasts to 2026, global space budgets totaled $62.2 billion in 2016, down 2% from the previous year. Governments launched 75 satellites, less than the historical peak of 2015 but in line with the last five year average. …