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The European Union’s Copernicus programme is a boon for analysts and researchers around the world since it provides all of the imagery taken by its Sentinel earth observation satellites for free. SpaceWatch Middle East interviewed Andreas Veispak, the acting Head of Unit for Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, …

The Agence Spatiale Algerienne (Algerian Space Agency) recently released remarkable satellite imagery of the Algerian province (wilaya) of Djelfa, located about 300 kilometres south of the capital city of Algiers, taken by its ALSAT-2A remote sensing satellite. The Djelfa province is surrounded by the Algerian provinces Tissemsilt and Medea in …

On 15 June 2016, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) accompanied by a number of NASA officials and representatives of the United States Embassy in the UAE and the United States Consulate in Dubai. Bolden and the accompanying delegation met with His Excellency Yousuf …

The Deputy Director of the Iranian Space Agency, Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, told Iranian journalists that Iran plans to build and launch its own high quality and indigenously built remote-sensing and telecommunications satellites by 2025. “A 10-year plan has been put on the agenda for the construction of two remote sensing …

As both Iran and Turkey look to Central Asia to enhance their diplomatic and economic prospects and standings, space cooperation will become a more important and useful tool for gaining relative geopolitical advantage in the region for both countries. Who is better able to exploit the opportunities for space cooperation …

Experts from the Turkish Research Institute of Space Technology (TÜBİTAK UZAY) visited the Azerbaijani space agency, AzerCosmos, at their Baku headquarters on Monday, 13 June 2016, according to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies. The experts from TÜBİTAK UZAY were trained by AzerCosmos experts on definition of satellite …

Es’hailSat, The Qatar Satellite Company, announced on 8 June 2016 the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) for the joint development of satellite services. Es’hailSat’s President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari and QCAA’s Chairman Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al …

Executives from Qatar’s Es’hailSat and Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Space Systems (MELCO) gathered in Kamakura, outside of Tokyo, Japan, to observe the vacuum chamber test of Es’hail-2. MELCO, who were awarded the contract to build Es’hail-2 in 2014, hosted their Qatari clients on 4 June 2016. Es’hail-2 is based on MELCO’s …

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on 7 June 2016 the release of its compact Phased Array SATCOM for ground soldiers at EUROSATORY 2016. The ELK-1882A “On-the-Move” (OTM) Personal SATCOM micro-terminal provides personal bi-directional voice and data communication for lower echelon ground combatants. Designed by IAI’s ELTA Group, the ELK-1882A micro-terminal …

As part of a wider effort to strengthen cooperation with educational entities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in order to develop qualified national human resources to work in the …