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Blue pigeon: The Moroccan Spy
ennahar 20 April, 2009
The budget allocated by the Ministry of National Defense to the Moroccan satellite ‘TUBSAT’ or ‘Blue pigeon’ as Moroccans like to call it, has been increased on the instruction of the royal palace.
The latter has been activated end of 2001 and is intended primarily at military targets which can be summarized in spying on neighbouring countries, particularly Algeria. By increasing its budget, the Moroccan authorities are endowed with highly sophisticated equipment to increase the capacity of the satellite to detect anything in its orbit to Earth.
According to current data, the Moroccan satellite, whose administration is exclusively under the control of the Moroccan military authorities, despite the claims of Rabat that TUBSAT is intended for civilian purposes. The borders between Algeria and Morocco are subject for a period of time to its surveillance over certain regions of Algeria where units of the National People's Army, such as the regions of Bechar and Tindouf. Moroccan satellite revolves around the area four times per day among its 14 rotations around the earth.
The satellite ‘TUBSAT’ or ‘Blue pigeon’ has been, over the last two years, taking photos of locations on the borders between Algeria and Morocco with great discretion. It shall monitor what photographs offers as aerial views of the earth, except the data offered by the satellite and that are dedicated to the cause of science (meteorology, geology).
This new orientation of the Morocco satellite shows the interest of the military command of its military forces directly involved in managing the research center, study and Aerospace Engineering, a civil official.
According to reports, a team from the royal center works with military experts, the Bureau of research and Moroccan Intelligence, in the management and exploitation of all the satellite’s data and photographs. The Moroccan military satellite is confirmed by the discovery by the Moroccan army six years ago, when a delegation consisting of six officers was dispatched to the U.S. NASA space research in order to receive specialized training in the management of satellites and space exploration.
The same procedure was taken by the Moroccan military authority in 1998, when a delegation of Moroccan experts, civil and military, had been sent to Kazakhstan to undergo training on the ground in Baikonur Cosmodrome for the same purposes.
The Moroccan TUBSAT satellite was launched in 2001 from the military base in Kazakhstan on a Russian rocket carrying the name “Zenith 2”. Moreover, Morocco is linked to Ukraine and Germany by agreements for coordination and cooperation in the field of space research.
In addition to the name ‘TUBSAT’, the satellite carries a name given by the late King Hassan II, ‘Blue pigeon’ when he asked for its construction in 1993 for military purposes and espionage. The term ‘Blue pigeon’ was, originally given to a young Arab girl whose sense of sight was extremely highly developed. The latter could thwart the preparation for attacks made by enemy tribes who wanted to attack his tribe.
Ennahar / Yacine A.
ennahar 20 April, 2009
The budget allocated by the Ministry of National Defense to the Moroccan satellite ‘TUBSAT’ or ‘Blue pigeon’ as Moroccans like to call it, has been increased on the instruction of the royal palace.
The latter has been activated end of 2001 and is intended primarily at military targets which can be summarized in spying on neighbouring countries, particularly Algeria. By increasing its budget, the Moroccan authorities are endowed with highly sophisticated equipment to increase the capacity of the satellite to detect anything in its orbit to Earth.
According to current data, the Moroccan satellite, whose administration is exclusively under the control of the Moroccan military authorities, despite the claims of Rabat that TUBSAT is intended for civilian purposes. The borders between Algeria and Morocco are subject for a period of time to its surveillance over certain regions of Algeria where units of the National People's Army, such as the regions of Bechar and Tindouf. Moroccan satellite revolves around the area four times per day among its 14 rotations around the earth.
The satellite ‘TUBSAT’ or ‘Blue pigeon’ has been, over the last two years, taking photos of locations on the borders between Algeria and Morocco with great discretion. It shall monitor what photographs offers as aerial views of the earth, except the data offered by the satellite and that are dedicated to the cause of science (meteorology, geology).
This new orientation of the Morocco satellite shows the interest of the military command of its military forces directly involved in managing the research center, study and Aerospace Engineering, a civil official.
According to reports, a team from the royal center works with military experts, the Bureau of research and Moroccan Intelligence, in the management and exploitation of all the satellite’s data and photographs. The Moroccan military satellite is confirmed by the discovery by the Moroccan army six years ago, when a delegation consisting of six officers was dispatched to the U.S. NASA space research in order to receive specialized training in the management of satellites and space exploration.
The same procedure was taken by the Moroccan military authority in 1998, when a delegation of Moroccan experts, civil and military, had been sent to Kazakhstan to undergo training on the ground in Baikonur Cosmodrome for the same purposes.
The Moroccan TUBSAT satellite was launched in 2001 from the military base in Kazakhstan on a Russian rocket carrying the name “Zenith 2”. Moreover, Morocco is linked to Ukraine and Germany by agreements for coordination and cooperation in the field of space research.
In addition to the name ‘TUBSAT’, the satellite carries a name given by the late King Hassan II, ‘Blue pigeon’ when he asked for its construction in 1993 for military purposes and espionage. The term ‘Blue pigeon’ was, originally given to a young Arab girl whose sense of sight was extremely highly developed. The latter could thwart the preparation for attacks made by enemy tribes who wanted to attack his tribe.
Ennahar / Yacine A.
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