The French ambassador to Iran, François Sénémaud, revealed that Paris-based commercial satellite communications company Eutelsat is seeking to provide a communications satellite to Iran. The ambassador’s remarks were made during a meeting with Iranian minister for Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi in Tehran on Saturday, 22 October 2016. “The …
Read More »Eutelsat pulls plug on Kurdish satellite TV stations in Europe
Allegedly at the request of the Turkish government, Eutelsat has ceased broadcasting two Kurdish satellite television stations in Belgium and Sweden. The Turkish government has shut down several Kurdish media outlets, to include television channels, in Turkey over the past few weeks and it would appear that it is now …
Read More »Eutelsat selects Airbus and Orbital ATK to build replacement satellite serving North Africa
Eutelsat Communications has selected Airbus Defence and Space and Orbital ATK to build a new satellite for the key 5° West orbital position serving mainly video markets in Europe and North Africa. Under the terms of the agreement Airbus Defence and Space will build the satellite’s payload while the platform …
Read More »Four countries interested in building Iran’s National Communication Satellite
According to Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, satellite manufacturers from four countries have expressed interest in building Iran’s National Communication Satellite (NCS). The announcement by Minister Vaezi came after he revealed that a contract had been signed with an unnamed Russian satellite manufacturer for Tehran’s National Remote …
Read More »Turkey claims it is ready to launch space agency, but seems no further than where it was five months ago
The Turkish Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister, Ahmet Arslan, told Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak Online on 23 September 2016 that the government in Ankara is ready to establish the Turkish Space Agency once parliament has debated and approved the draft bill authorising its creation. Mr. Arslan said, “We continue …
Read More »German space initiative “Die Astronautin” takes off – getting Women into Space
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was seized upon by over 400 women when they were given the chance to become the first German female astronaut. On 14 September 2016, more then 70 of these were selected for the next stage of evaluation. Our colleagues at Sputnik news wrote about the inspiring event: The view of Earth from …
Read More »Egypt on the road to establishing national space agency amidst controversy
The Egyptian government, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has agreed upon draft legislation that will eventually create a national space agency for the belaboured country. The announcement was made on 3 August 2016, and aims to harness space technologies for the purposes of economic development and for …
Read More »Iran, Azerbaijan cement space cooperation agreement
Iranian and Azerbaijani officials signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for space cooperation between the two countries, days before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on 8 August 2016. Iranian Minister for Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Azerbaijani Minister Communications and High Technologies Ramin Namigoglu …
Read More »Russia’s RSC Energia to help Egypt build EgyptSat-A remote sensing satellite
The Moscow, Russia, headquartered Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) revealed on 28 July 2016 that it has signed a deal worth U.S.$100 million to help build the Egyptsat-A, the replacement for Egyptsat-2 that in April 2015 failed in orbit after only a year after its launch. Egyptsat-A is …
Read More »At the start of a new space age
The European Space Agency (ESA) is one of the largest space organisations in the world, and has established many formal and informal links with Middle East governments, agencies, research institutes, and universities. SpaceWatch Middle East re-publishes here the Foreword written by the ESA Director-General, Jan Woerner, to the 2016 European …
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