Government

Thailand’s head of the National Council for Peace and Order, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, is expected to make a U.S.$215 million order for the Thailand Earth Observation Satellite (THEOS)-II with French satellite manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space during a visit to France on 25 June 2018, according to a diplomatic source …

Acknowledging competition from companies like SpaceX, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aim to ensure that its next-generation space launch vehicle, the H-3, will cut launch costs by half compared to its current workhorse, the H-2. The 39th H-IIA vehicle was launched Tuesday afternoon, …

By Krystal Wilson, Director of Space Applications Programs, Secure World Foundation In September 2015, more than 150 world leaders met at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Building on the successes of the original eight Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), this new agenda officially came into …

Airbus Defence and Space has been highlighting its wide range of satellite-based solutions to the South African military and other organisations during the company’s recent Airbus Defence and Space South Africa Defence Day 2018 presentation in Pretoria. The country already utilises Airbus satellite products. The South African National Space Agency …

The Yuzhnoye Design Office continues its collaboration with Orbital ATK on the production and launch of the Antares launch vehicle. The area of responsibility of the Ukrainian enterprise is the hardware for the rocket’s first stage. The Orbital ATK Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus automated cargo spacecraft was successfully launched …

International shipping exhibition, Posidonia, provided the perfect backdrop for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between global mobile satellite service provider, Inmarsat and the Hellenic Space Agency (HSA). Signed between Inmarsat’s Maritime President Ronald Spithout and Christodoulos Protopapas, Chairman of the Hellenic Space Agency, the MoU will allow …

The Sultanate of Oman has announced that it intends to build two satellites and then have them launched by the end of 2019, according to the Omani minister of transport and communications, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Salim al Futaisi. One of these satellites is a Cubesat designed to measure …

On 30 March 2018, a meeting of the Ukrainian State Space Agency Collegium was held in the city of Dnipro. During the meeting, the results of the work of enterprises and institutions of the Ukrainian space industry for 2017 were summed up and priority directions of work for the forthcoming …

Diplomatic efforts are gathering in the Middle East and North Africa toward the development of a regional mechanism for space cooperation and development among Arab countries. At the recent Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi, the region made progress toward  establishing an Arab space organisation. “In spite of our advanced …

The launch of the Chinese meteorological satellite, Fengyun-2H, marks another step in the Chinese-led Space Silk Road, as Beijing dedicates the system to providing weather coverage along Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) territories. Launched on Tuesday, 5 June 2018, the new Fengyun-2H meteorological satellite is expected to improve the accuracy …