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 »Innovation in outer space, it’s not rocket science – Part 2: The case for Australian space
Australia’s space industry needs to catch up with the rest of the world. Andrea Boyd, Flight Operations Engineer for the International Space Station in Germany, explained why at the recent GAP Summit in Part Two of her case for a more proactive Australian space policy and programme. Part One can be …
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 »Japanese space policy minister visits Türksat headquarters
Japanese Minister of Space Policy Mr. Yosuke Tsuruho accompanied by Japanese delegates paid a visit to Türksat Headquarters located in Gölbaşı as part of his visit to Turkey, on 9 September 2016. Türksat’s CEO, Cenk Şen, welcomed Mr. Tsuruho and the accompanying delegates, and after a briefing on Türksat and …
Read More »UAE Space Agency discusses use of space technology for agriculture with Japan
The UAE Space Agency has explored ways of strengthening bilateral relations and supporting the vision of cooperation in applying space technology to the agricultural sector. The developments were discussed during an official visit by senior officials from the Japanese government to the Space Agency headquarters in Abu Dhabi. HE Dr …
Read More »Turkey and Japan sign space cooperation agreement for International Space Station
On 8 September 2016, Mr. Yuichi Yamaura, Vice President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and H.E. Dr. Cihan Kanlıgöz, Director General of the Aeronautics and Space Technologies, the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Turkey, signed a new Cooperation Arrangement concerning the utilisation …
Read More »Israel’s Space IL hosts annual Google Lunar XPrize summit in Tel Aviv
SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit organization working to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon, is pleased to announce that they will host the last annual Team Summit for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The Team Summit will take place in Tel Aviv, kicking off on 31 August 2016. For the …
Read More »Qatar’s Es’hail-2 launch delayed to 3rd Quarter of 2017
Qatar’s Es’hailSat has announced that it’s Es’hail-2 satellite will now be launched in the third quarter of 2017 rather than in December 2016 as originally planned. There has been no word as to why the launch date for Es’hail-2 has slipped by at least six months. Es’hail-2 will be launched …
Read More »The New Asian Space Race
Asia is home to three established space powers – Japan, China and India – and there are several new players, some with rising aspirations of reaching the Moon, thus giving way to a new competition in Asia. The fact that six of the ten countries – China, India, Iran, Israel, …
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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