Tag Archives: Space Policy

Iranian officials are in talks with Italy for the return of the Iranian Mesbah (Farsi for ‘Lantern’) satellite, according to the head of the Iranian Space Agency Mohsen Bahrami. The Mesbah satellite was seized by Italy and Russia just prior to its scheduled launch in 2006, due to the imposition …

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 …

The UAE Space Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Kazakhstan, defining a framework for collaboration and the exchange of information and expertise in the fields of space science, research, and technology. The MoU was signed at the National Space Centre of Kazakhstan by H.E. …

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency hosted its second meeting of the agency’s Advisory Committee in Abu Dhabi on 22-23 May 2016. The UAE Space Agency’s Advisory Committee, comprising leading experts on space policy from around the world, were hosted in Abu Dhabi by Dr. Khalifa Al Romaithi, Chairman of …

The Middle East is set to benefit from multiple global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) currently under development by China, India, Europe, Russia, and the United States. The United States especially is a global GNSS powerhouse, and US aerospace company Lockheed Martin is developing the next generation US GNSS capability, Global …

What if Iran’s space programme is exactly what the Iranian government says it is… a space programme? What if Iran’s Simorgh and Safir rockets are actual space launch vehicles rather than a cover for the development of long-range ballistic missiles? And, if we are to assume all of this is …

The departure of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s subsequent reshuffle of the Turkish cabinet is not likely to further delay the establishment and creation of a Turkish space agency. Davutoglu has been replaced as Prime Minister by Binali Yildirim, a noted loyalist to President Erdogan. …

China and the League of Arab States (LAS) agreed to promote the use of China’s BeiDou global navigation satellite system (GNSS) at the 7th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held in Doha, Qatar, on 16 May 2016. The BeiDou system is a rival to the US Global …

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, …

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 …