Policy and Law

Egypt is making preparations to receive its sixth satellite, MisrSat-2, that has been built using a grant from China and will be shipped to Egypt in October 2019.

Following the landmark space cooperation agreement signed between India and France, both countries will start work on building joint maritime surveillance satellites in 2019, according to an official from the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES).

The French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), signed a cooperation agreement with the Hellenic Space Agency (HAS), the national space agency of Greece, that covers scientific exchanges and national and international space collaboration.

The recent pronouncement by President Donald Trump that called for the creation of a separate U.S. Space Force has been met with some consternation by a number of commentators around the world. This reaction seems more concerned with the controversial persona of President Trump rather than with the policy substance behind the rhetoric.

If one wants to attract private companies and investments to the Russian space industry, it is necessary to amend the existing legislation.

Amidst a worsening economic crisis, largely self-inflicted by the unorthodox economic policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and deteriorating relations with its longstanding ally the United States, Turkey has rolled out a 100-day action plan to initiate its space ambitions.

As part of a whole-of-government effort, the Japanese government is considering building and launching space-based Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites to better monitor space debris and anti-satellite threats against Japanese satellites, according to a report in Japan News.

Japan is considering building a constellation of microsatellites for maritime domain awareness (MDA) operations over the South China Sea, East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan to monitor Chinese maritime and naval activities, especially around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands.

China's Hainan Earth observation satellite constellation that is designed to "reinforce national sovereignty" over the South China Sea and other disputed territories is set to start launching its first satellites in 2019, according to Chinese state media reports.

Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi announced on 15 August 2018 – India's Independence Day - that India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022. The announcement was made by Modi in what is his last Independence Day speech ahead of the general election to be held in early 2019.