Space Exploration

Emirati and Indian officials have reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in space exploration and satellite projects following the first meeting of the UAE-Indian Joint Working Group on space in December 2017. Details of that meeting were revealed by senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials during a visit to the …

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, and Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister of France, attended on 11 February, 2018, the signing of a joint declaration between the UAE Space Agency and France’s Centre national d’etudes spatiales – the National Centre for …

By Andrew Jones China’s pioneering Chang’e-4 lunar mission set to launch later this year will carry an optical camera provided by Saudi Arabia as part of international involvement in the mission. The Chang’e-4 mission, which will use the backup to the 2013 Chang’e-3 Moon lander and rover, plans to make …

The UAE Space Agency, represented by H.E. Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, discussed avenues for future cooperation with a high-profile delegation from Italy. The Italian delegation included Liborio Stellino, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, Sergio Lamboni, Vice President of Arescosmo – Defence …

Dr. Koppillil Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, and Dr. D. Gowrisankar, ISRO’s Deputy Director for International Cooperation, will make a presentation on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission at the World Government Summit in Dubai later this month. Dr. K. Sivan, current Chairman of ISRO, told a …

The Space Research Centre Board of Trustees has held its first meeting at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) campus in Al Ain. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, and centered around discussions on the current and future plans …

Tel Aviv-based satellite communications company Spacecom has announced that it will provide satellite communications to the D-MARS Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station, to take place in the desert of southern Israel. Using its AMOS-7 satellite, Spacecom will provide space-based connectivity for the mission that involves analog astronauts in a Mars …

Speaking at the 13th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference in Tel Aviv this week, the Director-General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner, said that discussion are underway for Israel to cooperate with the pan-European space agency under a “special arrangement.” In an interview with The Times of Israel, Wörner …

During a state visit to India made 14-18 January, 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi further cemented ties between the two countries with a range of agreements that cover cooperation in a number of areas, to include space. In a joint statement issued on …

How do we kickstart a space-based economy that includes everything from communications, orbiting satellites, clean energy, and asteroid mining? Here, planetary scientist Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida lays out a proposed roadmap to get there. This essay was originally published by Aeon on January 9, 2018, and is …