Middle East Space Roundup: 8-14 January 2023
A summary of all the space news in the Greater Middle East over the past week
Computer rendering of Oman’s Aman satellite that was lost in a Virgin Orbit launch failure on 9 January 2023.
The following are the major space developments in the Greater Middle East region tracked by Middle East Space Monitor over the past week:
8 January 2023
Israeli analyst Eyal Pinko, writing in Israel Defense, claims that Morocco is considering acquiring additional high-resolution Earth observation satellites. Morocco, through its Royal Centre for Remote Sensing, already operates the Mohammed VI A and B high-resolution Earth observation satellites built by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space and launched in 2017 and 2018 respectively. According to Pinko’s sources the Moroccans already have several companies in mind to provide information on the additional satellites. Given Pinko’s strong Israeli connections this might indicate Israeli companies such as Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems could be among these companies.
Israeli media (here and here) reports that the Israeli Air Force is creating a ‘space administration’ that is being characterised as a precursor to a possible space command or even space force. The Israeli Ministry of Defense already has a Space Directorate that deals with satellite acquisition and military space policy, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has specialist units such as Unit 9900 that provides satellite imagery interpretation and data to frontline units. The proposed IAF space administration is likely going to provide an operational hub for Israeli military space operations - to possibly include offensive and defensive counterspace activities.
9 January 2023
Iran’s Minister for Communications and Information Technologies, Eisa Zarepour, admitted to the media that satellite internet services provided by SpaceX’s Starlink is now operating within Iran, but said it is unclear as to how many terminals are in the country. Zarepour said that the Iranian authorities welcome satellite internet providers to operate in the country so long as they adhere to the regulations and relevant legislation that governs media and communications activities.
Oman’s first ever satellite Aman - an Earth observation 3U Cubesat built by Poland’s SatRevolution, TUATARA, and Oman’s ETCO - was lost in a failed launch attempt by Virgin Orbit. Launched from Cornwall in the UK’s southwest on board a modified Boeing 747, and dubbed by Virgin Orbit as the “Start Me Up” mission, the launcher’s second stage developed an anomaly 25 minutes after being released from its carrier aircraft over the North Atlantic south of Ireland. None of the nine satellites, including Aman, on board the launcher reached their intended orbit. Both the British and U.S. authorities, along with Virgin Orbit, are investigating the cause of the launch failure. There has been no work to date from the Omani authorities regarding their intended next steps.
Photograph courtesy of Virgin Orbit.
10 January 2023
Sarwat Nasir, the space correspondent for UAE English-language newspaper The National, writes an informative piece outlining the development of the first satellites for Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
An Indian news report says that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is interested in cooperating with countries in the Middle East, as well as in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, to help build space capacity and technologies.
Sultan Al Neyadi, the UAE’s second astronaut who was scheduled to go to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX Dragon capsule with two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut in mid-February, will now have to wait to start his six-month space mission. The launch of the Dragon crew will be postponed until the attempted rescue of two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut stranded on board the ISS because of a coolant leak on-board their Soyuz M-22 capsule has been completed. The Russians will launch the Soyuz M-23 capsule without a crew and dock it to the ISS. The damaged Soyuz M-22 capsule will be then undocked and deorbited, allowing the three stranded cosmonauts and astronaut a ride back to Earth. Once successfully completed, Al Neyadi and his colleagues will be launched to the ISS.
11 January 2023
Space in Africa, the premier publication for all space developments on the African continent, was one of the first outlets to report that Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Ltd. (HKATG), a Hong Kong-based space company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Djibouti to build a spaceport there valued at $1 billion. The facility is expected to consist of seven launch pads and three rocket engine testing facilities. While technically not in the Middle East, Djibouti is at the heart of the Horn of Africa - an area of significant geopolitical interest to Arabian Gulf countries, Egypt, Iran, and Türkiye.
Middle East Space Monitor published an assessment of Saudi Arabia’s Moon ambitions following the United Nations announcement that the Kingdom will withdraw from the 1979 Moon Treaty effective 5 January 2024. The Saudi withdrawal from the treaty took many space policy and space law experts by surprise, but clues that it was going to change tack were there to see when Riyadh signed the Artemis Accords in the summer of 2022. While the Saudi Space Commission is still developing its strategy, it is known within the region that the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, has a deep personal interest in space matters and is keen to see a Saudi astronaut on the moon by 2030. There is also Saudi interest in lunar exploration and the commercial exploitation of lunar and other celestial resources - an activity that the 1979 Moon Treaty discourages but the Artemis Accords allows for.
UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi. Photograph courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
12 January 2023
Arfan Chaudhry, formerly International Director at the UK Space Agency, is now carrying out a similar role at the Saudi Space Commission. Chaudhry, a former British civil servant, joins other foreign experts at the SSC, to include Valanathan Munsami, former head of the South African National Space Agency, who is senior advisor and chief of staff to the CEO of the SCC, and Frank Salzberger, formerly of the European Space Agency, who is now the Managing Director of Space Sector at the commission.
14 January 2023
Russian journalist Ruslan Suleymanov, writing for the exiled Novaya Gazeta Europe newspaper, describes the recent deepening of space relations between Iran and Russia in an article titled “Through tyranny to the stars.” Quoting several Iranian and Russian experts, Suleymanov writes in his piece that space ties between Moscow and Tehran have tightened since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Iran’s Khayyam high-resolution Earth observation satellite, launched by Russia in August 2022, has been used by the Kremlin to provide imagery of the Ukrainian battle space and Iran is a major provider of armed drones to the Russian military. Suleymanov argues that recent space cooperation agreements between Iran and Russia are tokens of Russian gratitude for Iran’s support in Ukraine, while Iran benefits from increased access to advanced technologies.
Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom discussed space cooperation while UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps visited Riyadh and held talks with Abdullah Al Swaha, the Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission. Among the topics discussed was collaboration and a potential joint investment in space-based solar power (SBSP). British company Space Solar Ltd. and Saudi Arabian megaproject NEOM are the likely vehicles for SBSP collaboration and investment if talks progress. SBSP involves specially made satellites in geostationary orbit collecting solar energy and then beaming it to a fixed point on Earth using the electromagnetic spectrum. If it works it could be a more reliable form of renewable energy than wind power or terrestrial solar energy.
Be sure to catch up with space activities in the region in the next edition of Middle East Space Monitor’s space roundup!