Satcoms

It is difficult to overstate the critical importance of satellite navigation for the Middle East, yet the service is vulnerable to disruption. ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon examines the threats to satellite navigation in the region, and ways to mitigate their worst effects. When Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized …

Speaking to senior officials earlier this week at an Iranian Space Agency (ISA) meeting, the ISA Director Mohsen Bahrami announced that Iran will launch two indigenously built satellites in the very near future, and that three other satellites are currently being manufactured. The two satellites due to be launched are …

According to French business newspaper La Tribune, France and Egypt will sign a contract for a military communications satellite worth 600 million Euros on Tuesday, 10 May 2016, in Paris. SpaceWatch Middle East first reported on this deal in April 2016, just before French President Francois Hollande and Egyptian President …

SatNews Daily reports that Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia Space and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have formed a joint venture with Skyware Technologies and Crescent Technologies to start manufacturing an innovative High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) Ka-band terminal to provide high throughput for satellites fleets around the world. The …

Recent developments in international space exploration plans for Mars have inadvertently placed the UAE’s Hope Mars Mission in the forefront, and impact the future of UAE’s space exploration ambitions. ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, explains. Without even knowing or asking for it, the past several weeks have …

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., the satellite networking technology, solutions, and services company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel, has been selected by Peru’s biggest telecommunications provider, Telefonica del Peru, to extend broadband and cellular services in rural parts of the South American country. Gilat will provide Telefonica del Peru with its …

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, announced on 3 May 2016 an agreement with Elcome International, also based in Dubai, UAE, for provide technical support to Thuraya’s service partners in Egypt and throughout Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The agreement with Elcome International allows faster response times …

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 …

Eutelsat, headquartered in Paris, France, has selected Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. to provide technology to power its new satellite broadband services throughout Western Russia in July 2016. Using Gilat’s SkyEdge II-c hub with X-Architecture and SkyEdge II-c small user terminals, Eutelsat plans to deliver broadband services using the …