SpaceX successfully launched Spain’s high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) PAZ reconnaissance satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Thursday, 22 February, 2018. The successful launch of PAZ is the latest by a Mediterranean country and intensifies the space-based surveillance and reconnaissance competition of the geopolitically important sea. The …
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Op’Ed: Spacepower and Sea Control in the South China Sea and Beyond
The recent announcement by China to orbit ten Earth observation satellites to solidify its sovereign claim for the South China Sea is a harbinger of the competitions to come for the control of other vital strategic waters across the globe. ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, examines this phenomenon …
Read More »Nine Arabsat Member States to Attend Board Meeting in Istanbul
With the participation of nine Arab countries, headed by Saudi Arabia, Arabsat is to hold its Board of Directors meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) will hold its 160th Board of Directors meetings in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 3-4, 2018, under the chairmanship of Dr. Nasser Al-Hujailan, …
Read More »#SpaceWatchME Review of 2017 – A Year in Content
Wow. It’s been a busy year at SpaceWatch Middle East, but it’s also been a very rewarding one as the team has seen the platform grow form literally nothing to a publication that has earned a following that we could never have dreamed of and interest from all over the …
Read More »Qatar’s Es’hailSat Talks Up Es’hail 2, Doha Teleport; In Discussions for Es’hail 3 and 4
Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, has exhibited at the 3rd Global SatShow conference and exhibition being held on November 9-10, 2017, at Halic in Istanbul, Turkey. This is the third year for the Global SatShow event, dedicated to the entire value chain in the satellite industry, as well as space …
Read More »Turksat-Airbus Satellite Contract To Be Signed At Global SatShow
Transportation, Maritime and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan announced that the contract with Airbus Defence and Space, the company which gave the best offer for the manufacturing of Türksat 5A and Türksat 5B communication satellites, will be signed at the Global SatShow on November 9, 2017. Arslan told an Anatolian Agency …
Read More »UAE Teachers Invited By Honeywell To Apply For U.S. Space Camp
Honeywell, a global software-industrial company, following the successful trip of UAE teachers last year, is inviting eligible teachers to join educators from around the world at the prestigious Honeywell Educators at Space Academy (HESA). The programme will be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC), in Huntsville, Alabama; …
Read More »Turkish Space Agency To Be Established This Legislative Year; Manned Spaceflight An Objective
According to Ahmet Arslan, the Turkish Minister for Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications, the eagerly anticipated Turkish space agency will be established this legislative year. Quoted in Turkish newspaper The Daily Sabah, Arslan justified the need for a Turkish space agency when he said, “As we have seen, the fact …
Read More »Ethiopia and India Raise Prospect of Space Cooperation
Ethiopia and India have raised the possibility of space cooperation with each other after a state visit to the Horn of Africa country by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on October 5-7, 2017. The Ethiopian government announced in early 2017 that it intends to build its own medium-sized space launch …
Read More »Turkey’s Small and Medium Sized Space Companies Fear Being Squeezed Out of Space Business
Just as Turkey’s Space programme is about to be put on a permanent footing with the establishment of its national space agency, some Turkish entrepreneurs fear that they are being squeezed out of satellite and space business in favour of large companies such as Turksat, Rocketsan, and Turkish Aerospace Industries …
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