Policy and Law

Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall presented his New Year wishes to the press at the agency’s Head Office in Paris Les Halles on 7 January 2020. He hailed the unstinting efforts of journalists covering space and working to raise its profile and bring the sector’s everyday …

The Nigerian Communicatons Commission (NCC) has released a list of 55 authorised space stations and the licensees allowed to provide satellite communications services across Nigerian sovereign territory, with the UK’s OneWeb being the only megaconstellation provider listed. Other satellite communications providers on the list include Inmarsat, Eutelsat, SES, Intelsat, Avanti …

The lower house of the Kazakh parliament approved legislation in December 2019 that amends Kazakh-Russian space cooperation at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kyzylorda region of southwest Kazakhstan, as well as the return to Kazakhstan of four areas of land leased by Russia around the large launch complex. Kazakhstan leases …

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is understood to be in separate talks with Kazakhstan regarding space cooperation, and South Korea regarding economic cooperation in satellite manufacturing and applications, according to Saudi and regional press reports. Discussions in separate meetings were held in Saudi Arabia during December 2019, and signal another …

Indonesia is understood to be in talks with Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, about the possibility of Russia training and launching the Southeast Asian country’s first astronaut. This makes Indonesia the latest country to be in talks with Russia about its human spaceflight ambitions, with Turkey, Hungary, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, …

The Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology at Sharjah University hosted a joint Emirati-Japanese workshop on planetary exploration, in cooperation with the UAE Space Agency, the Chiba Institute of Technology and CITJAMSS. The workshop aimed to introduce the UAE’s key developments and achievements in the global space sector …

AzerCosmos, the Azerbaijani satellite operator, reported revenues of U.S.$40.6 million for the period of January to November 2019, a 69 percent increase over the same period in 2018, when the company generated revenues of just U.S.$25.6 million. According to AzerCosmos, 89 percent of its 2019 revenues were generated abroad in …

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will develop and build Israel’s national communication satellite, the “Dror 1.” The Dror 1 is intended to meet the satellite communication needs of Israel for the next 15 years. The Dror 1 is comprised primarily of local Israeli technologies developed at IAI, including an advanced digital …

Macao’s first space exploration satellite was named Macao Science 1, the special administrative region (SAR)’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Tam Chon Weng announced Sunday at an opening ceremony of an aerospace exhibition. During the opening ceremony, vice administrator of China National Space Administration (CNSA) Wu Yanhua also announced …

The head of the Egyptian Space Agency, Mohammed el-Qousy, announced on 25 December 2019 that the agency will launch a nationwide, six-year long competition to select Egypt’s first astronaut. Addressing a delegation of the Education and Scientific Research Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives, el-Qousy said that the selection …