In a first for the industry, six satellites, built in California, to be launched in California, for a California company have arrived at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, where they are scheduled to be launched on a Minotaur rocket in October. Space Systems Loral (SSL), a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems, …
Read More »Airbus Safran Launchers Partners With Telnet-INC to Integrate Microsatellites in Tunisia
The Sfax Technopole signed a partnership agreement with Telnet-INC and Airbus Safran Launchers for the construction of a microsatellite integration, assembly, and testing centre. The protocol signing ceremony was held on Monday, August 14, 2017, at the Sfax Digital Research Centre at the Sfax Technopole in Sfax, Tunisia. “This protocol …
Read More »Türksat 6A Satellite Moves To Production Stage
The Türksat 6A project, which will be Turkey’s first domestic communication satellite, is approaching the end of the design phase. At a meeting the Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs, and Communication, Ahmet Arslan, along with the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, Faruk Özlü, discussed the latest situation concerning the …
Read More »UAE’s Masdar Institute Completes Critical Design Review of Its MYSAT-1 CubeSat Programme
Masdar Institute’s CubeSat development program, MYSAT-1, has completed its critical design review (CDR), marking a key milestone for the University’s space systems and technology programme, which was designed with support from Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) and global aerospace manufacturer and defence industry leader Orbital ATK. MYSAT-1 will be …
Read More »Iran Abandons Its Human Spaceflight Ambitions
In an unsurprising move, the Iranian government has officially abandoned Tehran’s ambitions to send humans into space. According to Iranian news agency ILNA, Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, the deputy head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA), made the announcement citing the extremely steep cost of a human spaceflight programme that he …
Read More »Egyptian Cabinet Receives Formal Legal Submission for Creation of Egyptian Space Agency
The Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has submitted a formal proposal for the creation of an Egyptian Space Agency to the cabinet in Cairo. According to Deputy Minister of Higher Education for Scientific Research Essam Khamis, the ministry submitted text for a law that would establish the …
Read More »UAE’s Masdar Institute to Host the Yahsat Space Laboratory
The Yahsat Space Laboratory, which aims to develop and advance technologies within the space sector and to make continuing strides toward the UAE’s advanced space ambitions, was launched by officials from the Masdar Institute, Al Yahsat Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), and Orbital ATK on April 17, 2017, at the Masdar …
Read More »Turkeys military big ambitions space despite attempted coup aftermath
This is the last of three reports on the Turkish space programme. The first report was on the establishment of the Turkish Space Agency and the second report was on Turkey’s space launch ambitions. The attempted coup in July 2016 that sought to overthrow the rule of President Recep Tayyip …
Read More »Turkish Space Launch Ambitions Take Shape, But Strategy Still Vague
This is the second of three reports on Turkey’s space programme. Yesterday’s report looked at the efforts underway to establish a Turkish Space Agency; tomorrow’s report examines Turkey’s military space ambitions. As Turkey finally makes some progress in establishing a Turkish Space Agency and the contours of a national space programme …
Read More »#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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