Policy and Law

Future spaceports can apply for a share of two million pounds to support plans for small satellite launch from aircraft and sub-orbital flight from the UK, Science Minister Chris Skidmore announced Wednesday, 22 May 2019. Sites such as Newquay in Cornwall, Campbeltown and Glasgow Prestwick in Scotland, and Snowdonia in …

The President of the French national space agency (Centre national d’études spatiales – CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, and Lim Cheol-Ho, President of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), in the presence of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy and Finance, and Fabien Penone, France’s Ambassador …

Airbus and the Hellenic Space Agency have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering future space cooperation. The MOU will focus on Earth observation, space exploration and future growth opportunities including software research and space policy. Established in 2018, the Hellenic Space Agency (HSA) is Greece’s national body responsible for …

The world’s leading open source think tank on the economics and commerce of space, the ISU’s International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC), has appointed Dr. Michael Simpson as its new Managing Director and Board Member. “It was a privilege to be a founding director of the Institute during my Presidency …

By Dr. John B. Sheldon There are thousands of dedicated space professionals in the UK, who, between them, have established a world-class reputation in space science, commercial space and engineering, and in certain national security space operations. This group of remarkable men and women have until recently, with a few …

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and the European Space Policy Institute, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and briefs. This is ESPI Briefs No. 27: ‘Space Policy Directive 2: ITAR, an instrument of U.S. dominance’, originally published in December 2018. 1. The International Traffic in Arms …

Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the French national space agency – the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), opened the International Affairs Seminar at the agency’s head office in Paris on 13 May 2019. This event, aimed principally at the French space industry, is designed to present a panorama of space …

Representatives of Japan’s Hokkaido University recently visited Myanmar to discuss the possibility of building a small Earth observation satellite with counterparts at the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University, according to an English-language report in the Myanmar press. If approved, the Earth observation satellite project is likely to begin in the 2019-2020 …

Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed that it will assign 100 military personnel to its Space Domain Mission Unit that is expected to be stood up by Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and will based at the Fuchu Air Base, operated by the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF), west of …

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States of America signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 10 May 2019 that will serve to catalyze and significantly deepen cooperation between the two countries in the field of space. Étienne Schneider, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, …