Policy and Law

Secure World Foundation is pleased to announce the inaugural Summit for Space Sustainability, which will be held in Washington, DC, on 25-26 June 2019. The space sector is currently experiencing rapid growth in both the number and diversity of space actors. This change is driven by commoditization and globalization of …

Today’s interconnected world is ever more vulnerable to cyberattacks, emphasising the importance of secure encryption to protect Europe’s critical infrastructure and communications. An agreement forged today between the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) marks the first steps towards creating a highly secure, pan-European quantum communication infrastructure. …

Within the framework of participation in the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado, the Hellenic Space Agency (HSA) signed on 8 April 2019 a joint co-operation agreement with the U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After nine months of hard work, the HSA has been able to …

Boeing and the Australian Space Agency have signed a Statement of Strategic Intent to help advance the agency’s goals to expand Australia’s domestic space industry. By 2030, Australia would like to grow the space market segment from AU$3.9 billion to AU$12 billion and double space industry employment from about 10,000 …

The second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum was held in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis on 1 April 2019 to discuss measures and initiatives that will increase the use of China’s Beidou navigation satellite system (BDS) in the Arab world with the aim of elevating cooperation in high-technology between …

By Bin Li On March 27, India announced it had successfully conducted an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test, called “Mission Shakti”. After the United States, Russia and China, India is now the fourth country in the world to have demonstrated this capability. The destroyed satellite was one of India’s own. But …

The European Space Agency (ESA) has set up a dedicated unit to work on the standardised nanosatellites called ‘CubeSats’, teaming up with European companies to develop low-cost technology-testing missions. Missions in preparation include a double CubeSat to test rendezvous and docking techniques, and one to explore near-Earth asteroids. A fast-growing …

ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, and Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, signed a Statement of Intent to coordinate joint science research about the Moon and identify opportunities for lunar mission cooperation. Signed during the National Academies’ Space Science Week in Washington DC, …

The UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways has successfully implemented the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System, GADSS, recommendations for flight tracking ahead of the General Civil Aviation Authority’s, GCAA’s, proposed deadline of 1 June 2019. With an ICAO completion date of 8 November 2018, Etihad …

By Blaine Curcio and Tianyi Lan China’s recently-rising space industry has caught a huge number of headlines and generated much buzz, including several articles written for this column. For good reason, this has taken many headlines. But a different type of space-related industry has seen Chinese presence abroad for some time—that …