Tag Archives: Geopolitics

Throughout the Middle East, one of the most geopolitically consequential regions in the world, countries are using space for a range of civil, commercial, and security purposes. It is a region where space is contested, a means to prestige, and the subject of political and economic development and controversy. For …

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch Middle East and Secure World Foundation we will occasionally be publishing selected articles from the organisation. Secure World Foundation envisions the secure, sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space contributing to global stability and benefits on Earth. The mission of the Secure World Foundation is to …

China has agreed to contribute U.S.$64 million to the Egyptian earth observation satellite programme, EgyptSat, as part of a new cooperation agreement between the two counties signed on March 21, 2017. The funding will be contingent on a feasibility study on the EgyptSat programme, but is thought to be a …

Following immediately on the heels of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading a delegation to China, arriving on March 19, 2017, in order to discuss and enhance strategic and economic ties between the two countries. Among the various topics to be discussed between Israel and …

As part of his six week-long tour of Asian countries, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has presided over a major space agreement between his Kingdom and Asia’s leading space power, China. This prominent agreement is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the King Abdulaziz City of Science …

In a bizarre statement that will likely be studied for some time by strategic analysts seeking to understand how deterrence works, a senior officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) publicly announced that threats from the United States forced Iranian leadership to shelve plans to launch a space launch …

The Iran Space Agency (ISA) announced on March 1, 2017, that it had applied to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for five geostationary (GEO) orbital slots for Ka- and Ku-band communications satellites. The announcement was made on the ISA website, and provided no details about when it expects to fill …

As Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad consolidates his power over the reclaimed city of Aleppo and other parts of Syria, his closest ally, Iran, seems to be reaping the rewards of what many regard as a Phyrric victory with the announcement that an Iranian company with close links to the Islamic …

The Russian news agency TASS reports that the Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia is currently building a new high-resolution remote sensing satellite for Egypt called EgyptSat-A. EgyptSat-A is being built as a replacement for EgyptSat-2 that failed in orbit in April 2015 less than a year after its launch. …

The Ethiopian government announced on 3 January 2017 that it intends to build its own medium-sized space launch vehicle (SLV) and develop the capabilities to domestically build satellites. The Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said that it will develop a medium-sized SLV that should have its maiden launch …