Earth observation

The head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), Morteza Barari, announced in early October 2018 that three Iranian-made satellites - Payam-e Amirkabir-1, Dousti, and Nahid-1 - have been built and are ready to be launched, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Spacety, the Chinese small satellite startup, is expected to carry out two further launch missions on behalf of clients in November and December 2018, but exact dates are not yet confirmed according to the intrepid Andrew Jones in GBTimes.

A Chinese Long March 2C satellite launch vehicle successfully took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China on Monday, 29 October 2018, lofting the China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) as its primary payload as well as four Cubesats for Chinese New Space satellite manufacturer Spacety.

Belarus State University's BSUSat-1 was successfully launched by a Chinese Long March 2C satellite launch vehicle on Monday, 29 October 2018, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China.

The UAE's KhalifaSat high-resolution Earth observation satellite was successfully launched into orbit on board a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA satellite launch vehicle from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre at 13:08hrs Japanese time (08:08hrs UAE time) on Monday, 29 October 2018.

The Philippines' Diwata 2 remote sensing satellite was successfully launched into orbit on board a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA satellite launch vehicle from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre on Monday, 29 October 2018.

Satellite Vu has taken the title of Best International Start-Up at the Supernova Challenge, part of the Future Stars event held during GITEX in Dubai last week. Satellite Vu, was invited to attend by the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) as part of its Innovation Challenge.

Spacety, a Chinese small satellite startup, is set to launch four CubeSats for a range of clients on a Long March 2C launch vehicle on Monday, 29 October 2018, according to GBTimes’Andrew Jones.

Vietnam is set to have its MicroDragon Earth observation satellite launched from Japan in December 2018, while it also prepares to take the chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) in January 2019, further cementing Vietnam’s status as a major space power in Southeast Asia.

Israel’s civilian space programme is in crisis due to chronic underfunding and the continuous outsourcing of satellite communications acquisitions to foreign satellite manufacturers, according to the annual report of the Israeli State Comptroller.