Several weeks ago SpaceWatch Middle East contributor Ghanim Alotaibi, a Kuwaiti engineer and Space Generation Advisory Council member, wrote of the need for a Kuwaiti space programme, but that such an endeavor faces several challenges, starting with the challenge of ‘Kuwaitisation’. This week, Ghanim address the other three challenges Kuwaiti leaders will …
Read More »The Greatest (Space) Show on Earth
World Space Week (WSW) is in full swing with events taking place all around the world in celebration of the impact that space has on mankind. The largest annual space event on Earth was founded by the United Nations General Assembly and has been running every year since 1999. The …
Read More »New funding programme to serve as launch pad for Swiss space start-ups
This autumn, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Education (SERI) will open an ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) in Switzerland. In addition to technical expertise and business-development support, ESA BIC Switzerland will also provide start-ups with up to EUR 500,000 in …
Read More »Innovation in outer space, it’s not rocket science – Part 1
SpaceWatch Middle East is privileged to republish this article by Andrea Boyd. The geopolitical impact of the topic also has a huge value in the Middle East region. Australia is the only OECD country without a national space agency. Andrea Boyd, an International Space Station Flight Operations Engineer at the …
Read More »Interview: Eran Privman of Israel’s SpaceIL – Ready to Play With the Big Boys
It’s been a disappointing few weeks for the Israeli space sector with the loss of Amos-6 and the troubled Ofek launch, but Eran Privman, CEO of SpaceIL – the Israeli outfit competing in the Google Lunar XPrize – is undeterred and is ready to take Israel to the Moon. SpaceWatch Middle …
Read More »Israel’s Space IL hosts annual Google Lunar XPrize summit in Tel Aviv
SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit organization working to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon, is pleased to announce that they will host the last annual Team Summit for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The Team Summit will take place in Tel Aviv, kicking off on 31 August 2016. For the …
Read More »Middle Eastern Lunar Missions: the Role of the Moon in the Middle East’s Spacefaring Future
The Moon is rapidly becoming the destination of choice for space agencies and companies since it poses less technical and financial risk than going directly to Mars. ThorGroup GmbH’s intern in Washington, DC – Nickolas J. Boensch – explores the emerging ‘Moon Rush’ and the possible roles and opportunities for …
Read More »Audi Lunar Quattro rover survives the desert of Qatar
On 29/30 July 2016, SpaceWatch Middle East accompanied PTScientists in the desert of Qatar to test their Audi Lunar Quattro rover that they hope to send to the Moon by the end of 2017 to win the Google Lunar X-Prize. SpaceWatch Middle East COO Torsten Kriening spoke with PTScientists CEO …
Read More »The Audi Lunar Quattro moon rover is coming to the Bir Zekreet desert in Qatar
Doha, July 27, 2016: The PT Scientists are aiming high – they are shooting for the Moon. By the end of 2017, a group of 30 scientists and engineers wants to send an unmanned rover to the Moon as part of the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP) competition which was proclaimed …
Read More »ALINA rocked Berlin
The Berlin, Germany-based start-up and Google Lunar X-Prize competitor, PTScientists , were invited on the evening of 14 July 2016 to the prestigious Volkswagen Forum, on Unter den Linden in the heart of Berlin, to present the ALINA lander to interested members of the press. Robert Böhme, CEO and Founder of …
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