Government

The Egyptian government, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has agreed upon draft legislation that will eventually create a national space agency for the belaboured country. The announcement was made on 3 August 2016, and aims to harness space technologies for the purposes of economic development and for …

Iranian and Azerbaijani officials signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for space cooperation between the two countries, days before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on 8 August 2016. Iranian Minister for Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Azerbaijani Minister Communications and High Technologies Ramin Namigoglu …

ImageSat International N.V., the Yehuda Or, Israel-based commercial satellite imagery company, has been selected by the Brazilian Ministry of Defence to provide Brazilian authorities with high-resolution satellite imagery to provide security monitoring of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro beginning on 5 August 2016. ImageSat operates the …

Iranian press reports claim that Iranian industry and as yet unnamed Russian satellite manufacturers are to jointly build a National Remote Sensing Satellite for Iran. Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, recently completed an official visit to Moscow where he met with several Russian government officials and …

The Moscow, Russia, headquartered Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) revealed on 28 July 2016 that it has signed a deal worth U.S.$100 million to help build the Egyptsat-A, the replacement for Egyptsat-2 that in April 2015 failed in orbit after only a year after its launch. Egyptsat-A is …

Are Middle East governments ready to counter a resurgent Iran in space? American space law expert and policy consultant, Michael J. Listner, makes the case for more countries in the region to develop comprehensive national space policies so that their defence establishments can adequately prepare defensive measures in the space domain. …

The Kuwaiti cabinet, the Council of Ministers, is considering the acquisition and launch of a satellite, according to local reports in Kuwait City. Draft legislation has been submitted to the cabinet from the Communications and Information Technology Commission. The reports say that the cabinet has formed a committee to examine …

Airbus Defence and Space launched its latest development in satellite imagery acquisition and distribution, One Tasking. Representing a major step change, One Tasking offers customers the most intuitive and cost-effective way to rapidly task an Airbus Defence and Space’s satellite – all from the comfort of their own desk. The …

The attempted coup by elements of the Turkish military on Friday, 15 July 2016, in an attempt to depose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP Party, included an attack against the main campus of TÜRKSAT located in Gölbaşı, just outside of the Turkish capital of Ankara. The TÜRKSAT headquarters …

With demand for Earth imagery increasing, manufacturers are expected to produce some 1,935 remote sensing satellites over the next 10 years, according to Forecast International. The company’s new study, “The Market for Civil & Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites,” reports that during the 2016-2025 forecast period, the value of production will …