Saudi Space Experiment to Increase Artificial Seeding

The Saudi astronauts aim to carry out 14 scientific research experiments in several fields during their mission to the ISS.
The Saudi astronauts aim to carry out 14 scientific research experiments in several fields during their mission to the ISS.
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Saudi Space Experiment to Increase Artificial Seeding

The Saudi astronauts aim to carry out 14 scientific research experiments in several fields during their mission to the ISS.
The Saudi astronauts aim to carry out 14 scientific research experiments in several fields during their mission to the ISS.

Saudi Astronaut Ali al-Qarni began an artificial seeding experiment in space, which will contribute to the development of the technology used on the earth and raise its efficiency by more than 50%.

His colleague, Rayana Bernawi, shared a video of the Grand Mosque in Mecca from the International Space Station (ISS), to which they arrived on Monday, where they joined seven other astronauts who are already on board.

The Saudi astronauts aim to carry out 14 scientific research experiments in several fields during their mission to the ISS, which will include human medicine, biomedicine, and physics.

Al-Qarni appeared in a video he posted on his Twitter account, carrying a green box inside the Columbus unit, which he said was an artificial seeding experiment and prepared by Saudis.

“The cloud seeding will help us to raise the artificial raining rate by 50%,” he stated.

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, headed by Dr. Ashraf Farhat, and in cooperation with the Saudi Space Authority, is supervising this experiment, which aims to simulate the cloud seeding process that is used in Saudi Arabia and many countries to increase precipitation rates.

The experiment aims to help scientists and researchers to devise new ways to provide conditions suitable for humans - including artificial rain - to live in space colonies on the surface of the Moon and Mars. It will also contribute to improving researchers’ understanding of rain seeding technology, which will help to increase rainfall rates.

Saudi Arabia seeks to enhance water resources, develop vegetation, and benefit from renewable sources through the artificial cloud seeding program, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in February 2020.

The operational work of the program, which already completed three phases, has achieved a success rate of more than 97 percent. Preliminary studies of rainfall point to precipitation amounts amounting to 3.5 billion cubic meters of water in the targeted areas, according to Dr. Ayman Ghulam, CEO of the National Center for Meteorology, the program supervisor.

For her part, Bernawi shared a video clip on Twitter showing the Holy Mosque of Makka from the ISS.

“After I finished my experiments for today, we happened to pass over Makka Al-Mukarramah,” she said.

On Thursday, Bernawi began her first scientific experiment, by testing the response of immune cells to infections using the live experiment box.



Japan Launches Climate Change Monitoring Satellite

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
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Japan Launches Climate Change Monitoring Satellite

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS

Japan on Sunday launched a satellite monitoring greenhouse gas emissions using its longtime mainstay H-2A rocket, which made its final flight before it is replaced by a new flagship designed to be more cost competitive in the global space market.

The H-2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the GOSAT-GW satellite as part of Tokyo’s effort to mitigate climate change.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which operates the rocket launch, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will hold a news conference later Sunday to give further details of the flight.

Sunday's launch marked the 50th and final flight for the H-2A, which has served as Japan’s mainstay rocket to carry satellites and probes into space with near-perfect record since its 2001 debut. After its retirement, it will be fully replaced by the H3, which is already in operation, as Japan's new main flagship, The Associated Press reported.

The launch follows several days of delay due to malfunctioning in the rocket’s electrical systems.

The GOSAT-GW, or Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle, is a third series in the mission to monitor carbon, methane and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security, and has been developing two new flagship rockets as successors of the H-2A series — the larger H3 with Mitsubishi, and a much smaller Epsilon system with the aerospace unit of the heavy machinery maker IHI. It hopes to cater to diverse customer needs and improve its position in the growing satellite launch market.