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Tag Archives: Iran

Iran Announces Launch of Nahid-2 Communications Satellite for 2018

The Iran Space Agency’s Aerospace Research Institute (ARI) has announced that it plans to launch its Nahid-2 communications satellite sometime in 2018. According to Hassan Hadadpour, the head of the ARI, Nahid-2 will be the first Iranian satellite to feature a propulsion system powered by lithium-ion batteries, and is therefore …

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A Deadly Twist in Iran’s ‘Soft War’? Iranian satellite TV mogul murdered in Istanbul

A prominent Iranian satellite television network owner living in exile was gunned down along with his Kuwaiti business partner on an Istanbul street on the evening of April 29, 2017. Saeed Karimian, a 45-year old Iranian-British citizen living in Istanbul, and his as yet unnamed Kuwaiti business associate, were driving …

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#SpaceWatchME Op’ed: The Middle East: a microcosm of our new space age

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 …

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Iranian Satellite Jamming In Shiraz Could Cause 24,000 Cancer Cases In Coming Years

Iranian politicians representing the city of Shiraz in the Fars district of Iran have publicly claimed that Iranian government satellite jamming activities are causing significant health problems for their constituents. Members of the Iranian parliament (called the Majlis in Farsi), Ali Akbari and Masoud Rezaee, have been vocal in their …

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Saudi Arabia To Contribute To China’s Chang’e-4 Moon Mission

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 …

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Iranian General Claims US Deterred Launch of Space Launch Vehicle

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 …

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Iran Space Agency Applies for Five Geostationary Orbital Slots for Ka- and Ku-Band Communications Satellites

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 …

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Syria and Russia in satellite broadcasting talks

The Syrian Minister for Information, Mohammed Ramez Turgeman, has intimated that the Syrian government is in discussions with Russia about a possible satellite acquisition so that Damacus can assert greater control over how its information and propaganda can be disseminated throughout the country and beyond without being interfered with. The …

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Iran claims to be in talks with European, Japanese, and Chinese space agencies, international satellite operators

The head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA) has claimed that his organisation is in talks with several European countries and Japan, as well as China and Russia, to explore the possibility of space cooperation. Mohsen Barami also claimed that Iran is in discussions with several international satellite operators. “We …

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