Tag Archives: Africa

With China’s Belt and Road Initiative coming under criticism, and a proposed infrastructure programme in the offing from the so-called ‘Quad’ powers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, ThorGroup GmbH Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, argues that the Quad powers tap the potential of their NewSpace …

Facing financial problems and an uncertain future, Israel’s Spacecom is now looking abroad to expand its satellite communications business. An announcement posted by the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) reports that talks were held between its head, Pavlo Dehtiarenko, and David Pollack, Spacecom CEO, in Kyiv late last month. …

Lockheed Martin, the giant U.S. aerospace company, has completed the assembly of the ARABSAT-6A communications satellite, and has shipped it to the Lockheed Martin facilities in Sunnyvale, California, for final tests and preparations prior to its launch on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle later this year. Once successfully …

The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on 27 February, 2018, announced the launch of an international centre to carry out the work of the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) programme. The Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) …

Earth-i, the UK-based Earth observation company, has been awarded a grant of £2.7 million from the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA) International Partnership Programme, which supports UK space firms tackling global challenges. The grant will enable Earth-i to launch the ACCORD programme in Kenya and Rwanda. ACCORD has been specifically developed …

SpaceX successfully launched Spain’s high-resolution synthetic aperture radar  (SAR) PAZ reconnaissance satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Thursday, 22 February, 2018. The successful launch of PAZ is the latest by a Mediterranean country and intensifies the space-based surveillance and reconnaissance competition of the geopolitically important sea. The …

The successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy space launch vehicle (SLV) on 6 February, 2018, is a major milestone in spaceflight and space exploration. It is also a green light for the launch of the Arabsat-6A communications satellite in the coming months aboard a Falcon Heavy SLV. “Arabsat-6A positioned at …

Dubai-based Thuraya, a commercial satellite communications company, has launched a tracking and monitoring (T2M) service and its T2M DUAL terminal for on-the-move machine-to-machine (M2M) Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors. The T2M DUAL terminal is designed for M2M communications and the tracking and monitoring of remote assets in harsh …

After a fraught launch on January 25, 2018, where Arianespace failed to receive telemetry from the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) at a critical stage during liftoff, the two satellites placed into Earth orbit by the launcher are said to be recoverable. Both Yahsat and SES have stated that …

Is the Middle Eastern satellite broadcasting market ripe for disruptive innovation? With new methods of content delivery through social media and mobile devices, and the advent of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain technologies, ThorGroup’s Torsten Kriening argues that satellite broadcast companies operating in the region have little reason to feel …