The Indian government is likely to introduce the 2017 Space Activities Bill, which will allow the commercial use of space in India, in the 2019 budget session, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Op’ed: 2018 in review by the editors
As 2018 comes to an end, we would like to take a moment and look back at some of the high - and low points of the last year. 2018 was a great year - no deadly accidents, more launches then ever and new space agencies around the globe.
Read More »Iran Claims To Have SSA Radar Capable Of Detecting Satellites In LEO
The deputy commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, announced on 29 December 2018 that Iranian experts have successfully built radars capable of monitoring satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), according Iranian news reporting.
Read More »Saudi Arabia Establishes Space Agency In Leadership Shakeup
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has established the Saudi Space Agency as part of a leadership shakeup enacted by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in a Royal decree issued late on 27 December 2018.
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Column: Big Ambitions From China’s SmallSat Companies
By Blaine Curcio and Tianyi Lan Over the past five years, and in particular over the past two to three years, the Chinese space industry has seen a dramatic increase in private company involvement. While these companies tend to be relatively small, they are great in number, with over 60 …
Read More »Chinese Commercial Space: First Of 156-Satellite Hongyun Satellite Broadband Constellation Successfully Launched
A Chinese Long March 11 launch vehicle successfully placed the Hongyan-1 satellite into orbit on 21 December 2018, making the first satellite launch of a planned 156-satellite communications constellation in low-Earth orbit (LEO), according to Andrew Jones at GBTimes.
Read More »Quantum Space: Italian Scientists Demonstrate High Orbit Satellite Quantum Communications
Researchers in Italy have demonstrated the feasibility of quantum communications between high-orbiting global navigation satellites and a ground station, with an exchange at the single photon level over a distance of 20,000km.
Read More »Denmark’s GomSpace Signs GOMX-5 Contract With ESA
GomSpace has signed a 300,000 Euro (U.S.$341,000) development contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the initiation of a new GOMX-5 satellite mission to demonstrate new nanosatellite capabilities for the next generation of constellations requiring high speed communications links and high levels of manoeuvrability.
Read More »Indian Military Space: ISRO Successfully Launches GSAT-7A Communications Satellite For Indian Air Force
An Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F11) successfully launched the GSAT-7A military communication satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, India, on 19 December 2018.
Read More »UK-Based Celestia Technologies Inks Significant ESA Contract
In order to provide for the new wave of mega Ka-band satellite constellations, Celestia Technologies of Harwell, UK, has signed an €8m contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of next generation Gateway ground stations.
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