Government

With the tragedy of refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq and beyond continuing unabated, SpaceWatch Middle East contributing editor Helen Jameson writes about how satellites can, in a small way, ease the plight of those fleeing the most awful violence and desperate conditions. When did you last use your phone? Five minutes ago? An hour …

The South Korean military is considering leasing an Israeli Ofek reconnaissance satellite, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap. With tensions between Seoul and North Korea increasing in recent months, South Korea’s military urgently requires a satellite reconnaissance capability that can provides its political and military leadership with enhanced strategic …

Renowned teleport operator Goonhilly Earth Station, has announced that it will welcome Matthew Cosby to its executive management board in the role of Director of Space Engineering. Goonhilly serves satellite operators, commercial satellite services, space agencies, and research organizations in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and …

The Space-based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a U.S. military satellite system one would not normally associate with the fight against Daesh. Designed to warn of ballistic missile launches, the sophisticated and mostly classified satellite system is now proving to be a valuable intelligence asset in crushing Daesh on the battlefield. …

Allegedly at the request of the Turkish government, Eutelsat has ceased broadcasting two Kurdish satellite television stations in Belgium and Sweden. The Turkish government has shut down several Kurdish media outlets, to include television channels, in Turkey over the past few weeks and it would appear that it is now …

Airbus Defence and Space announced that customers can now be served with WorldDEM Digital Elevation Data for any point on Earth. Following the comprehensive global acquisition campaign and subsequent processing effort, WorldDEM data now is available for the entire World, including Antarctica and Arctic regions as well as Pacific islands. …

Turkey is to build new satellites for its near neighbour Azerbaijan once its current satellites in orbit reach the end of their operational lifetimes. Azerbaijan currently operates its Azersky and Azerspace-1 satellites in both low-earth and geostationary orbits (160-2,000 kilometres altitude and 36,000 kilometres altitude respectively). Azersky is an earth …

Newtec – a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications – today announced it was selected by General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada to provide its MDM9000 Satellite Modem to the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) for use on its Aurora fleet as part of its …

Airbus Defence and Space has launched One Atlas, a new satellite image basemap, which covers the earth landmasses with professional grade imagery. Available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week and refreshed within a 12-month period, One Atlas provides customers with easy access to cost effective, high-quality and …

According to Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, satellite manufacturers from four countries have expressed interest in building Iran’s National Communication Satellite (NCS). The announcement by Minister Vaezi came after he revealed that a contract had been signed with an unnamed Russian satellite manufacturer for Tehran’s National Remote …