Tag Archives: Space Exploration

In what might be an election ploy or a signal of a growing space race, President Vladimir Putin announced plans for Russia to go to Mars in 2019 despite funding difficulties and a poor Russian track record for Martian exploration. Plans for this Mars mission come after 15 unsuccessful and …

How should India approach Chinese efforts to develop antisatellite (ASAT) weapons and its ambition to establish space superiority? In a talk given to the Observer Research Foundation’s Space Security conference in New Delhi on 16 February, 2018, ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon offers a few suggestions. For those who have just …

India and France have announced a broad and strategic space cooperation agreement to guide their developing bilateral strategic partnership. This Joint Vision for Space Cooperation includes both existing and new joint mechanisms, with inter-agency representation led by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French National Space Agency (CNES) respectively. The progress and outcomes will be reported to the bilateral Indo-French Strategic Dialogue for review and assessment.

France and India have agreed to cooperate on space-based maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. This decision to increase cooperation is seen as a geopolitical countermove to what many Indian analysts believe are increasing attempts by China to gain superiority in the Indian Ocean. France and India will now …

The United Arab Emirate’s Dubai-based Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has announced the extension by a month of the registration deadline for the UAE Astronaut Programme until 31 March, 2018. This development “aims to optimize entries to the programme as well as allow the space centre time to process …

The Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) may have ended, but the teams that have invested nearly a decade into their lunar dreams have vowed to continue to reach their goals. TeamIndus had made huge progress towards the launch deadline of 31 March, 2018, and inspired the people of India and beyond …

Open research funding platform Guaana piloted its fund distribution platform in partnership with the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF). The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Settlement Challenge fund (2,000,000 AED, approximately U.S.$540,000) will be distributed as seed grants for all areas of research that explore bold ideas and radical solutions for living …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Sultanate of Oman on 11-12 February, 2018, where he was hosted by H.M. Sultan Qaboos. Both leaders oversaw the signing of a landmark space cooperation agreement between Oman and India during the visit. The Memorandum of Understand (MoU) was signed on behalf of …

India’s space programme continues to broaden its appeal into Latin America, becoming a truly global competitor in the launch market and beyond. Several countries in the region have made outreach toward working with India in the coming months. As reported in Indian Defence News this week, Colombia plans to put …

Emirati and Indian officials have reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in space exploration and satellite projects following the first meeting of the UAE-Indian Joint Working Group on space in December 2017. Details of that meeting were revealed by senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials during a visit to the …