Policy and Law

The biennial "space law" training course of Asia_Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) was held this time in cooperation with TUBITAK Uzay and  UNOOSA for four days from 18th to 21st of September, 2019 in Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Turkey.

The UAE’s first astronaut, Major Hazza Al Mansouri, takes off for the eight-day mission on September 25 at 5.56pm. When his spacecraft docks with the International Space Station (ISS) at midnight, he will become the first Arab to set foot there.

A first-of-its-kind global ad hoc coalition dedicated to developing and maintaining a set of "living" space-safety best practices was announced today at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference – AMOS.

From 11 to 13 September 2019, the Centre national d'etudes spatiales (CNES) was at the 17th edition of the Defence Summer School, hosted by the French Air Force.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will cooperatively perform an educational project that uses JAXA’s "Int-Ball", a camera robot for the International Space Station, when the UAE astronaut gets on board the International Space Station for the first time.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, received Eng. Mohamed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director-General of the UAE Space Agency, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, to discuss an initiative launched by the UAE to establish the "Arab Space Cooperation Group."

Speaking at the DSEi conference on 11 September 2019, the UK Defence Secretary outlined an ambitious and global vision for defence. He highlighted the UK’s decisive contribution to the fight against Daesh and RFA Mounts Bay’s role providing critical humanitarian relief in response to Hurricane Dorian.

On Friday (23 August 2019), I published a short essay on the emerging Asian space race in The Nikkei Asian Review. I believe that the emerging space dynamics especially in Asia will spur new competition as well as cooperation. For example, India and Japan unite over Beijing's moon landings and anti-satellite weapons and find new avenues to collaborate including in joint lunar missions in the future.

Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and Chair of the Administrative Board of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), celebrated the agency’s 15th anniversary in Prague with Europe’s space leaders in attendance on 10 September 2019.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is "India's strategy in space is changing. Here's why", originally published 14 August 2019