BDLI - 15th NSBreakfast

Tag Archives: National Security Space

The Spectacular Rise of the UAE Space Agency and the Challenges Ahead

Where does the UAE Space Agency go after the Hope Mars Mission is achieved after 2021? Building and sustaining success, and therefore public and political support, is a challenge for all space agencies. The solutions to this challenge, however, can only be found in the United Arab Emirates. ThorGroup’s Chairman …

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In Saudi visit to Paris, reconnaissance satellite deal not in sight

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister, visits Paris on 27 June 2016 to participate in the third Saudi-French Joint Committee, co-chaired by the young Prince and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The Deputy Crown Prince will also meet with French President Francois Hollande, …

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Israel Aerospace Industries announces “on-the-move” personal military SATCOM terminal

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on 7 June 2016 the release of its compact Phased Array SATCOM for ground soldiers at EUROSATORY 2016. The ELK-1882A “On-the-Move” (OTM) Personal SATCOM micro-terminal provides personal bi-directional voice and data communication for lower echelon ground combatants. Designed by IAI’s ELTA Group, the ELK-1882A micro-terminal …

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Satellites and the Middle East’s cyber wars

The latest round of cyber skirmishes that have erupted between Iranian and Saudi Arabian hackers is a timely reminder that Middle Eastern satellites and their operators are vulnerable to more sophisticated cyber attacks. ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon explores this often discussed yet poorly understood threat to space systems. On …

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Iran’s defence minister wrongly claims independence from GPS

Iran’s defence minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, has claimed that Iran has created a Local Positioning System (LPS) making Iran independent from any reliance on the US Global Positioning System (GPS). Brigadier General Dehghan told Iranian journalists that LPS consists of five high-powered transmitters located around Iran that can provide …

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Spacepower in the Middle East: The Paradox of Strategic Depth and Transparency

Tragically, the Middle East has been the backdrop for changes in the character of war over the past few decades. With the rapid dissemination of high-resolution Earth observation satellites throughout the region, even more changes in the character of war are in store, argues ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon. The unique, …

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Securing reliable satellite navigation in the Middle East

It is difficult to overstate the critical importance of satellite navigation for the Middle East, yet the service is vulnerable to disruption. ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon examines the threats to satellite navigation in the region, and ways to mitigate their worst effects. When Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized …

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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, …

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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 …

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