SatNews Daily reports that Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia Space and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have formed a joint venture with Skyware Technologies and Crescent Technologies to start manufacturing an innovative High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) Ka-band terminal to provide high throughput for satellites fleets around the world. The …
Read More »India’s IRNSS gives Middle East new SatNav option
The successful launch on 28 April 2016 of the seventh satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) means that the Middle East region will soon have a supplementary, or even alternative, satellite navigation saystem to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia’s GLONASS, and Europe’s Galileo. The satellite, …
Read More »DigitalGlobe and Auracle Geospatial partner to focus on mineral exploration
DigitalGlobe, the Westminster, Colorado, USA, based commercial high-resolution satellite imagery company has partnered with Auracle Geospatial, located in British Columbia, Canada, in order to develop search capabilities for mineral resources exploration. The Middle East region produces not only oil and natural gas but also has large deposits of aluminium, chromium, …
Read More »Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: A Golden Opportunity for Space?
ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, explores the role of space in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 recently announced economic and social reform programme. He argues that Vision 2030 is a golden opportunity for Saudi Arabian space. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, …
Read More »Iran’s Future Spy Satellites: What Can Be Done?
With the Iranian sanctions regime steadily coming apart, it is only a matter of time before Iran acquires – or even develops on its own – a high-resolution imaging satellite that will revolutionise its military and civil remote-sensing capabilities. Such a development is of particular concern to a number of countries …
Read More »Social media app Telegram deletes Yemen’s Houthi-backed Al-Masirah TV
The social media app and website Telegram has deleted the channel used by Yemen’s Al-Masirah satellite television station, an entity thought to be affiliated with the Houthi’s, who are fighting the Saudi Arabian-backed coalition in Yemen. The action by Telegram took place over the weekend of 16-17 April 2016, and …
Read More »There are no borders seen from space…A beautiful picture of the Middle East taken from the ISS
There are no borders seen from space…that such beauty can be discerned from a part of the world – the Cradle of Civilization – where so much tragedy and suffering occurs is perhaps the cruelest of ironies. From space the political unrest in Egypt, the ongoing conflict between the Palestinians …
Read More »United States to start space security dialogues with GCC states
A senior US government official has announced that the United States should like to enter in to space security dialogues with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in the coming months. Speaking at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on 14 April 2016, the US Assistant Secretary of …
Read More »French Satellite Dominance in the Middle East Set to Expand
With an imminent satellite deal with Egypt, France is set to become the satellite manufacturer of choice for Middle East countries. John B. Sheldon, Chairman and President of ThorGroup GmbH, analyzes the geopolitical implications of this important deal. French President Francois Hollande and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi are expected to …
Read More »US military using space and cyber against Daesh
During a press conference on 12 April 2016 with journalists on his flight to the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, United States, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said that Daesh are being hit hard by coalition operations, to include so-called “cyber bombs” and by the use …
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