Riyadh to Host 5th World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum in September

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Riyadh to Host 5th World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum in September

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s Culture Ministry, represented by the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and the Heritage Commission, alongside the UNESCO World Heritage Center and the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership Program are jointly organizing the fifth edition of the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum, in partnership with ICOMOS.

The Forum, “Managing World Heritage for the Next 50 Years,” will be conducted in a hybrid format.

It will consist of three online sessions held between June and July, followed by an in-person event in Riyadh from September 10-16.

The event is scheduled to take place concurrently with the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee.

The World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum aims to bring together managers of World Heritage sites from all over the world to engage in discussions and network with international professionals.

The Forum will cover a variety of topics, including assessing the accomplishments and difficulties of the World Heritage Convention over the past 50 years, increasing resilience and sustainability, risk management, climate change, and digital technology usage for monitoring and protecting UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Interested managers of World Heritage sites from all around the world are encouraged to attend the event. The Culture Ministry has provided an online registration platform for those who wish to participate in the event.



SpaceX's Starship to Deploy Mock Satellites in Next Test

SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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SpaceX's Starship to Deploy Mock Satellites in Next Test

SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Elon Musk's SpaceX said upcoming Starship test flight would include the rocket's first attempt to deploy payloads in space by releasing 10 model Starlink satellites, a key demonstration for Starship's potential in the satellite launch market.

"While in space, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission," SpaceX said in a blog post on its website, Reuters reported.

The Starship flight from SpaceX's sprawling Boca Chica, Texas facilities, tentatively planned for later this month, will mark the seventh demonstration in a test-to-failure style of rocket development where the company tests new upgrades with each flight.

In October, Starship's "Super Heavy" first stage booster returned to its launch pad's giant mechanical arms for the first time, a milestone for its fully reusable design.

The rocket's sixth test flight in November, attended by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, achieved similar mission objectives - besides the landing of Super Heavy, which was forced to target a water landing on the Gulf of Mexico because of a launchpad problem.

Starship is the centerpiece of SpaceX's future satellite launch business - an area it currently dominates with its partially reusable Falcon 9 - as well as Musk's dreams to colonize Mars.

The rocket's power, stronger than the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon in the last century, is key for launching huge batches of satellites into low-Earth orbit and is expected to rapidly expand the company's Starlink satellite internet network.

SpaceX is under contract with NASA to land U.S. astronauts on the moon later this decade using Starship.

Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, has become a close ally of Trump who has made getting to Mars a more prominent goal for the incoming administration.