Space Exploration

Luxembourg may be one of the tiniest nations on Earth, but it’s ambitions to go where no one ever went, notably into deep space, are truly out of this world. Already amongst the top-ten space-faring nations worldwide, Luxembourg on 3 June 2016 announced that the Grand-Duchy is resolutely forging ahead with …

India’s Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, formally approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. The approval occurred on 25 May 2016 in New Delhi where the Union Cabinet met, …

In a move that cements an already thriving space relationship, the United Arab Emirates Space Agency signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Government of Japan last week, setting the stage for strategic collaboration in space exploration and science between the two countries. The UAE-Japanese MoC is the latest …

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency convened the first two-day conference of the Emirates Space Innovation Group (ESIG) on 3-4 May 2016, with the group creating a science and technology roadmap. The ESIG has been established to develop the science, technology and innovation capabilities in the UAE space sector and …

The deputy commander of the Chinese manned space programme, Lieutenant General Zhang Yulin, has suggested that China will send astronauts to the Moon no later than 2036, perhaps as early as 2030. A manned Chinese moonshot will depend in large part on the successful development and manufacture of the heavy …

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 …

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, …

China has announced that it intends to launch the core module of its space station by 2018, with the aim of having the manned space-based facility operational by around 2022. A spokesman for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Mr. Wang Zhongyang, told Xinhua News Agency that the core …

At the TEDxESA event on 11 November 2015, 12 stellar speakers took the stage and presented their visions of how science takes us beyond fiction. Space is hard, so why should we go? Let Rick Tumlinson give a clear answer in this TEDxESA talk. He wants to plant a tree …

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 …