Government

The successful launch on 28 April 2016 of the seventh satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) means that the Middle East region will soon have a supplementary, or even alternative, satellite navigation saystem to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia’s GLONASS, and Europe’s Galileo. The satellite, …

ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, explores the role of space in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 recently announced economic and social reform programme. He argues that Vision 2030 is a golden opportunity for Saudi Arabian space. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, …

Kratos Integral Systems Europe (ISE), a subsidiary of San Diego, California-based Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc., successfully completed the critical design review (CDR) for the Sultanate of Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) Advanced Space Radio Monitoring System. Oman’s TRA led the CDR supported by Kratos ISE personnel, and its …

In a clear reaction to collapsed relations with the Russian Federation, both Turkey and Ukraine have announced their intention to cooperate with each other in the development and manufacture of satellites, as well as collaboration on other strategic technologies. The announcement has come as a surprise to analysts, many of …

With the Iranian sanctions regime steadily coming apart, it is only a matter of time before Iran acquires – or even develops on its own – a high-resolution imaging satellite that will revolutionise its military and civil remote-sensing capabilities. Such a development is of particular concern to a number of countries …

There are no borders seen from space…that such beauty can be discerned from a part of the world – the Cradle of Civilization – where so much tragedy and suffering occurs is perhaps the cruelest of ironies. From space the political unrest in Egypt, the ongoing conflict between the Palestinians …

A senior US government official has announced that the United States should like to enter in to space security dialogues with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in the coming months. Speaking at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on 14 April 2016, the US Assistant Secretary of …

With an imminent satellite deal with Egypt, France is set to become the satellite manufacturer of choice for Middle East countries. John B. Sheldon, Chairman and President of ThorGroup GmbH, analyzes the geopolitical implications of this important deal. French President Francois Hollande and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi are expected to …

Reports suggest that Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to announce the creation of the Turkish Space Agency within the next three months. The Turkish Space Agency will be located in the town of Kazan near the capital Ankara, and will be a joint responsibility of the Turkish military’s …

During a press conference on 12 April 2016 with journalists on his flight to the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, United States, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said that Daesh are being hit hard by coalition operations, to include so-called “cyber bombs” and by the use …